We’re only just a few games into the new football season and already there’s no shortage of controversy in the NFL. And whilst the ongoing debate over anthem protests seems to be showing no sign of slowing down, there’s also plenty of confusion over how the NFL governs its players’ gambling activities.
The NFL has always held a tough line against allowing players to gamble, but recently it seems that legislation has proven to be inconsistent and that a shake-up in how the sports body governs gambling activity is well overdue.
The NFL has long been known as the ‘No Fun League’ thanks to the way that it has attempted to regulate everything from the way that players celebrate touchdowns to how they live their private lives.
And whilst the rules that ban football players from gambling make sense in light of match-fixing scandals in many areas of sport, when you consider that 30 NFL players were scolded for taking part in an arm-wrestling tournament in Las Vegas earlier this year, it shows that there is still plenty of uncertainty within the sport as to what qualifies as gambling.
The confusion seems to largely derive from the fact that the NFL bans players from even taking part in promotional events that are linked to gambling. And with Oakland Raiders set to move to the casino city of Las Vegas in just three years, it seems that there are plenty of headaches ahead for the NFL.
The NFL has been notably strict on all gambling activities ever since players like Paul Hornung and Art Schlichter tarnished the reputation of the game thanks to their irresponsible betting choices.
And seeing as there are currently no NFL players in the shortlist of Lucky Nugget Casino’s gambling sports stars, it seems that the NFL’s no-nonsense approach may have worked in curtailing casino gaming on the gridiron.
However, there are still those who maintain that there are still plenty of contradictions within the NFL gambling policy that threaten to cause more issues in the coming years.
Whilst the sport is certainly extremely successful at making big money, it seems that it will need to work out a more watertight framework to how it allows its players to enjoy anything from online roulette to arm wrestling without falling foul of the NFL’s increasingly complex regulations.
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