OBF: Don’t bet against the NFL

“Gambling” was once a four-letter word in the NFL.

Las Vegas didn’t exist.

Mentioning point spreads was poisonous to your career.

When “The NFL Today” was at its zenith, Brent Musberger and Jimmy The Greek discussed what the Greek’s “friends in the desert” thought about the Cowboys game. And the Greek was always quick with a weather update from Green Bay adding his thoughts on what would be a “low-scoring” affair in the snow.

Fast forward to 2024. Super Bowl 58 will be played in Las Vegas on Feb. 11.

Five years after the Supreme Court allowed legal sports betting, it has proliferated. In the U.S., 34 states have active live and legal wagering. Four others, including Maine and Vermont, have legalized betting but have yet to launch.

All six New England states allow sports betting. It makes sense that a member of the New England Patriots would be somewhat confused and frustrated over the NFL’s until-now convoluted policy toward its players and betting.

The other day, Jonathan Jones offered the following dilemma on Twitter.

“I understand rules are rules, But I can risk my life so that my team wins but I can’t risk 1k on my team winning”

He added a shrugging emoji.

Jones was voicing his dismay over the suspensions given to NFL players for betting on the NFL or placing non-NFL bets at team facilities.

Seven players have now been sacked by Roger Goodell for at least one year after being found to have bet on the NFL since 2021.

Three other players got six-game suspensions after being found to have wagered while at work.

Only one, Calvin Ridley, was a household name outside his own household.

None, surprising, have been quarterbacks or marquee-level stars.

This would not be the first time the NFL has engaged in selective enforcement of the rules.

Jones’ tweet was only 117 characters, including the shrugging emoji. But he gave us a lot to unpack.

Shameless plug/disclosure alert, I work as a Senior Betting Analyst for bookies.com, which is part of the Gambling.Com Group. The job is as cool as it sounds. When my best friend and I spent our teen years chasing the dream at Wonderland and Raynham Park, I would have never thought 40 years later it would lead to a full-time job covering sports betting.

America. What a country!

Two weeks ago, the NFL issued second-grade level clarification of its gambling rules. The players suspended this year and last all placed bets prior to 2023.

Here are the NFL betting rules as simplified as my Arlington Public Schools and Marquette University education can make them:

1.         Don’t bet on the NFL

2.         Don’t bet at work or while you’re working

3.         Don’t have someone bet for you

4.         Don’t share ‘inside information’

5.         Don’t enter a sportsbook during the NFL season

6.         Don’t play fantasy football

NFL players have always been prohibited from betting on the NFL. That needs no further explanation. The NFL has now clarified this to mean your own game, other games, point totals, player props and futures bets. And every NFL event, from the combine (Who bets on the combine?) through the Super Bowl, NFL Honors, and the Pro Bowl (Who bets on the Pro Bowl?).

Rule No. 2 should now be clear to the dimmest of wit. Don’t place a bet while you are on team property or traveling on team business. That includes while on buses, planes, trains and at hotels.

In summary: “don’t bet on anything while at work.”

Does this make sense when some stadiums have sportsbooks on site? No.

But the NFL is a government-protected bureaucracy run by lawyers.

Common sense does not factor into the decision-making process.

Does this make the NFL hypocritical?

What doesn’t make the NFL hypocritical?

Back to Jones. “I understand rules are rules,” he wrote.

In the current CBA, the NFL Players Association again allowed the Commissioner to have final say in all league matters.

Judge Berman be damned.

Think Article 46 during Deflategate under the previous CBA.

Jones’ union needs to do better when it comes negotiating and promulgating said rules.

As to the rest of his tweet: “But I can risk my life so that my team wins but I can’t risk 1k on my team winning”

Jones should reconsider his line of work. There are many professions in which participants risk their lives. Football players are paid an immense amount of money for doing so. They make far more than pilots, police officers or firefighters.

Bless them for it. They are free to play. Free to get paid. And free to quit.

Given the risk that Jones takes in playing, why would he want to compound that risk by betting his hard-earned money on NFL games? Hasn’t he already risked enough?

Frank Lopez warned Tony Montana not to get high on his own supply.

That same warning applies.

Patriots’ fans are conditioned to laugh at the phrase “integrity of the game” since it was used to punish Tom Brady for following the Ideal Gas Law.

But the “integrity of the game” does matter here. If the public believes the product is tainted, there is no product. Not even the NFL can survive that.

And NFL players already reap the financial rewards from the league’s embrace of legal sports betting in every paycheck. All gambling-related revenues are used in calculating the salary cap under the CBA adopted in 2020. That includes sponsorship and licensing fees.

Players receive at least 48% of all league revenues (blame the NFLPA if you think it should be more), including those from betting-related activities.

That’s as close to a sure thing as you’re ever going to get.

Especially when risking your life.