It has never been acceptable for NFL players to gamble on league games.
No matter who the league partners with, or what the NFL promotes, that one non-negotiable rule has remained arguably the easiest to interpret for fans and players.
Not even once. Not even by accident. Do not bet on league games. Do not even bet on non-league games inside team facilities. The league made an example of Calvin Ridley for breaking this rule. It again made examples of four Detroit Lions players and one Washington Commanders player on Friday.
Detroit wideouts Jameson Williams and Stanley Berryhill both received six-game suspensions for betting on non-league games inside the Lions’ facilities. Safety C.J. Moore, wide receiver Quintez Cephus and Washington’s Shaka Toney were suspended indefinitely for betting on league games.
This is the agreement. It couldn’t matter less that the NFL and its teams partner with sportsbooks and nor should it. The players are cut into those deals when they’re arranged per the collective bargaining agreement. They can make money from legal gambling without ever having to place a bet.
That hasn’t stopped numerous bad faith arguments in the wake of Friday’s suspensions.
The ultimate hypocrisy is saying “The NFL is proud to announce a partnership with Draft Kings, but if any of our players use it, we will suspend them indefinitely.”
— Jarrett Bailey (@JBaileyNFL) April 21, 2023
Here’s the ESPN story about Lions players being suspended for gambling with — you guessed it — an ad for gambling in-line pic.twitter.com/xwINn4zZFC
— David Gardner (@byDavidGardner) April 21, 2023
There’s undeniable hypocrisy involved in NFL cashing in on sports betting while suspending players for betting. Undeniable. At same time though, players share in revenue the league and teams get from sportsbooks. And no league ever anywhere can allow players to bet on their games
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) April 21, 2023
guys can we not do the thing about how the gambling rules in the NFL are absurd and the punishments are too harsh
it’s true, and they are, but the players know not to gamble by now. the league made an example of Calvin Ridley and these guys still did it. very, very dumb
— Jeremy Layton (@JeremyLayt0n) April 21, 2023
This is not hypocrisy. This is the deal that every pro athlete knows they’re getting into. That doesn’t mean the league is wrong to partner with sportsbooks. If anything, it makes it easier to catch players who violate the rules given that users must verify their identities before placing any bets.
In other words: If a multi-millionaire athlete wants place bets, there are plenty of other avenues available to them besides DraftKing and FanDuel, though it’s still difficult to get away with such a scheme.
Just as millions of people gambled on sports before PASPA was overturned, it would be naive to think athletes weren’t previously doing the same.
It’s why MLB made examples of the 1919 White Sox and Pete Rose and why the NFL previously threw the book at Alex Karras, Paul Hornung and Art Schlichter in the days before cellphones, let alone mobile betting.
It’s one thing to get annoyed by the constant barrage gambling ads. It’s quite another to suggest those ads and partnerships — which, again, players earn money from —make these leagues hypocrites for prohibiting those same players from using.
This is quite literally the deal they agreed to. Sportsbooks partnerships aren’t to blame for individual actions. It’s a simple rule that’s existed for decades. No one is forcing players to break it, no matter how many ads appear during games.