ESPN Looks Behind the NFL’s Anti-Gambling Stance

This week, Gambling911.com reported on how the NFL was cited in recent Court documents as having suggested sports betting to be a game of skill rather than a game of chance.  

The statements by legal counsel for the National Football League were made in 2013, according to ESPN. That same year, the NFL sued New Jersey in an effort to prevent the state from offering legalized sports betting.

"The spread of sports betting, including the introduction of sports betting as proposed by the state of New Jersey, threatens to damage irreparably the integrity of, and public confidence in, NFL football," declared Roger Goodell in an August 2012 court filing supporting the litigation against Gov. Chris Christie. "An increase in state-promoted sports betting would wrongly and unfairly engender suspicion and cynicism toward every on-the-field NFL event that affects the betting line."

Goodell’s stance is one that the NFL has promoted for nearly 40 years.

"The NFL has not consented, nor has its constituent clubs consented, to the use of the results of its games and their games on the football lottery scheme intended by the State of Delaware," lawyers for the NFL argued in a suit against that state on Aug. 25, 1976.

ESPN.com uncovered some compelling Court documents demonstrating the NFL’s long established anti-gambling position.

But with the league now on record as having stated they believe sports betting could indeed constitute a game of skill, things in New Jersey have suddenly gotten very interesting. 

The Garden State is fighting to have sports wagering legalized following a series of attempts in lower courts.  A decision is forthcoming. 

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com