After a slew of suspensions since last year, the NFL is reinforcing its efforts in their gambling policy.
Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley became the poster boy last year when he was suspended during the entire 2022 season for betting on the NFL. Earlier this year, four members of the 2022 Detroit Lions were hit with suspensions varying from six games to at least a full season.
However, the NFL held a conference call with media on Tuesday, announcing some changes and putting emphasis on rules already in place.
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The NFL logo is emblazoned across the middle of the field at SoFi Stadium. (Maximilian Haupt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The league said it is honing in on six “key rules” involving players:
- Don’t bet on the NFL;
- Don’t gamble at your team facility, while traveling for a road game or staying at a team hotel;
- Don’t have someone bet for you;
- Don’t share team “inside information”;
- Don’t enter a sportsbook during the NFL playing season;
- Don’t play daily fantasy football.
“The world has changed over the last few years,” Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, said in a media availability Tuesday.
“So, sports gambling has a great deal more presence in people’s lives than it did just a few short years ago, which means for us as [a] sports league — where integrity of the game is the highest single principle — that we have to be thoughtful and careful and scrutinize how we share information and educate people around the rules that govern it.”
Five players have been suspended this offseason for gambling, with a sixth on the way. (Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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“A couple of touches and all of a sudden, you can place a bet on many different things,” Miller said, via The Athletic. “It comes back to, in large part, a couple of rules that have existed as long as anybody can remember,” Miller continued. “Don’t bet on the NFL. That’s not new because sports gambling is more available. That’s always been the case. And don’t bet when you’re at work, wherever work happens to be in that moment. That’s existed for a long time.
“The rules around it are pretty straightforward.”
The league said that coaches are not allowed to bet on any sport under any circumstance (players can still bet on other sports), and the NFL will be alerted whenever a player uses a mobile gaming app or when a bet is placed from his home, no matter who makes the wager.
“We have a number of resources and tools both internally and externally,” Sabrina Perel, NFL vice president and chief compliance officer, said, via ESPN. “We have to continue to be as robust as possible. So, it’s multiple tools and resources that we’re using. And I do think as time goes, those will continue to mature and develop and there will be things that we might be doing two years from now that we’re not doing today.”
Lions’ wide receiver Quintez Cephus and safety C.J. Moore were suspended indefinitely for allegedly betting on NFL games, while wideouts Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams were handed six-game suspensions for betting on non-NFL games at a league facility.
Jameson Williams, #9 of the Detroit Lions, plays against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field on Dec. 11, 2022 in Detroit. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
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Washington Commanders defensive end Shaka Toney was also suspended indefinitely for allegedly betting on NFL games, and Indianapolis Colts’ Isaiah Rodgers confirmed reports he was being investigated for gambling.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.