May 28, 2009 (CAP Newswire) — The National Football League (NFL), perhaps the most influential professional sports organization in North America, continues to blur the line between what is and what isn’t acceptable in the world of sports betting, as it also continues to oppose the legalization of online sportsbetting and stand in the way of overturning the UIGEA.
A passionate supporter of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006, which essentially outlawed all forms of online gambling including sportsbetting, the NFL doesn’t hesitate to support other forms of gambling, even getting involved in the practice itself when it can find the right partners.
Writing for Gambling Online Magazine, Danielle Almond points out how the NFL tends to use moralizing, high-flown rhetoric in opposing legalizing sportsbetting, such as in its recent involvement in the state of Delaware in order to fight legalization of sports betting. But gambling is okay in other situations, apparently, as long as the profits find their way to the right place.
Specifically, the league has reportedly allowed the New England Patriots to sign a contract with the Massachusetts State Lottery.
“It’s not a casino where you can wager on outcomes of games. It’s a scratch ticker that you’re playing for an opportunity to win dollars and various prizes,” Almond quotes an NFL representative. “This lottery licensing would purely be scratch-off and chance games. They are not in any way connected to the outcome of our games. This is a critical feature for us.”
The bottom line? Gambling is bad, unless the NFL gets a cut. And that’s not fair to those entrepreneurs who would like to make a living off of online sportsbetting, an industry that the NFL is currently helping to ostracize.
Click here to read Danielle Almond's article in Gambling Online Magazine.