NFL Conference Call Outlines Six Principles of Sports Betting Code

The NFL highlighted six key principles to help team personnel better understand the gambling bylaws that have become increasingly problematic for players during a conference call Tuesday. 

The league has experienced an uptick in problems and uncertainty regarding its sports betting policy amid the takeover of gambling in America. Infractions have come in a variety of areas and even left players saying that they were simply unaware what they were doing was against the NFL’s code.

With just a couple of months until football season starts, players need to take this time to properly digest the new rules if they want to avoid compromising their team’s success during primetime.

The principles that were laid out during the call include the following

• Players cannot place bets on NFL games with in-person or online sportsbooks 
• Players cannot gamble at the team facility, while traveling for a road game, or while staying in a team hotel 
• Players cannot have someone else place bets for them 
• Players cannot share sensitive team information that may help bettors get a leg up 
• Players should not visit a retail sportsbook during NFL season 
• Players cannot play Daily Fantasy Football

The NFL is a proud sports betting pattern and ambassador. The league itself is partnered with several high-profile gambling companies, including DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars. Teams also have their own deals with different entities and are teaming up to open in-person sportsbooks inside or near their stadiums. 

Players have proven to be confused by the intertwining of gambling and regular football operations, which has created an entirely new market and perspective for the league and its fans but essentially does not exist for the players. 

NFL chief compliance officer Sabrina Perel said that the league will be alerted any time a sportsbook account is created under the name of an NFL player. She also said that rookies are required to undergo training relevant to the gambling policy to help discourage future incidents from occurring. 

The league also recently enlisted retired quarterback and widely recognized “greatest player of all time,” Tom Brady, to encourage players to comply with the gambling code. Brady said that the job of the game and the opportunities that come from it are not worth sacrificing to place bets or foregoing a proper understanding of the gambling bylaws.

The conference call would have been more timely had it occurred before several players were suspended for different gambling infractions.

Although Josh Shaw was the first player suspended for gambling violations after sports betting was legalized federally in 2018, many regard Calvin Ridley as the player who “kicked off” the wave of violations. He was suspended for the season in 2022 after he was found to have placed a series of bets on NFL games, including on his then-employer, the Atlanta Falcons, while away from the team.

Detroit Lions second-year wide receiver Jameson Williams was one of five players recently suspended for breaching the protocols after it was discovered that he placed bets from inside the team facility.

Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers Sr., one of few veterans at the position on the team, is also under investigation for allegedly placing hundreds of wagers, many on NFL games and from the team’s facility.

It’s possible that deeper dives reveal more players are guilty of different gambling infractions before the season gets underway in September. Only now is the league placing more emphasis on understanding the rules that are in place, which will hopefully decrease the spread of punishments in the future.