Late Sunday night, as the NFL’s annual scouting combine was being packed onto moving trucks in Indianapolis, a longtime team executive was reflecting on the league’s evolution over the last 20 years. As the conversation turned to the NFL’s drive to monetize seemingly every proton and neutron, the executive made a declaration about his many years inside the laboratory.
“Nothing will be like the 180-degree turn on gambling,” he said. “Nothing. There was a time it was taboo to even say the word 'gambling' out loud. Now I go to the Pro Bowl [in Las Vegas] and there’s a statue of Caesar in front of Caesars Palace, and he’s got a Pro Bowl jersey on.