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An unsealed 2012 deposition unveiled Wednesday by ESPN shows some of the rationale of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s staunch stance against on illegal sports betting.
He and a league executive testified at the time that an association between gambling and the NFL “would damage fans’ perception of the game while downplaying the significance of the league’s playing games in London and its relationship to fantasy sports”.
Ironically, sports betting is not only legal in the UK, most of the professional sports teams have entered into lucrative sponsorship deals with the legal bookmakers based in Europe.
And this raises an interesting point. Lawrence Ferazani, senior labor litigation counsel for the NFL, questioned the viability of sports betting and its potential to turn a profit for the league.
"The NFL is in a revenue-generating business," Ferazani said. "If the NFL believes that sports gambling would allow it to increase its revenue, the NFL would engage in that activity. Based upon our studies and analysis, we know that [sports betting] will negatively impact our long-term relationship with our fans, negatively impact the perception of our sport across the country."
Obviously not the case with Premier League Football or many of the soccer leagues throughout Europe for that matter.
Citing the NFL's 2012 gambling policy, Goodell said the league generally views gambling as something involving three elements: prize, chance and consideration. He added, "I think the 'generally' gives some leeway into that.'"
"We don't look at fantasy sports as gambling," Goodell said in testimony.
Goodell was likely not referring to Daily Fantasy Sports, which only began to explode in the past two years, but rather the season long fantasy sports contests that have been around for decades.
Here is another interesting factoid revealed Wednesday by ESPN.
The deposition testimonies from Goodell, Ferazani, then-NBA commissioner David Stern, NCAA president Mark Emmert and others initially were sealed and heavily redacted in parts during the New Jersey case, but recently were discovered to be unsealed by gaming and sports attorney Daniel Wallach.
"It is not unusual for court-filed materials to be initially sealed and heavily redacted and later unsealed," said Wallach of the firm Becker & Poliakoff, who has followed the ongoing New Jersey case throughout the past three years.
Goodell’s position has taken on new relevance with rencent concerns over the legality of Daily Fantasy Sports and comparisons drawn to gambling. New Jersey Congressman Frank Palone has asked for a Congressional study in to the activity.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
