As more is learned about the NFL’s gambling policy, more questions arise.
If, for example, NFL players are not allowed to enter casinos during football season or bet on sports other than NFL football, why does the NFL stage the Pro Bowl (now the Pro Bowl Games) in Las Vegas?
Per the NFL, the league and the NFL Players Association agreed to revise the gambling policy for both the last ever (for now) Pro Bowl in 2022 and first ever Pro Bowl Games in 2023.
“The union and league agreed that participating players in Las Vegas would be considered to be on personal time for the purpose of the gambling policy, except during periods when they were scheduled for Pro Bowl-related events,” an NFL spokesman told PFT by email. “Players were able to enter casinos and participate in legal non-sports gambling. They were not at any time, however, permitted to enter or use a sports book and were prohibited [from] wagering on sports. Both the union and league recognized that the agreement applied only to Pro Bowl week and would not affect the application of the CBA or gambling policy for any other NFL game or event.”
It’s somewhat surprising the league and union agreed to anything regarding the gambling policy, given that the union has conceded that the NFL has full power to determine the contours of the gambling policy unilaterally, without collective bargaining.
The outcome is still a little wonky. Players who did not qualify for the Pro Bowl Games can go to Las Vegas that week and legally place wagers via apps on their phones. Players who qualified for the Pro Bowl Games cannot.
It places even more importance on proper education — and it provides even more reason to change the rule to prohibit all player wagering on any sports, at any time.