NFL owners could vote as "early as this week on allowing casinos to advertise in NFL stadiums, team publications and on club radio broadcasts," according to sources cited by Daniel Kaplan of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. The vote is a move the league has "long resisted out of fear of being seen as close to gambling." The NFL has been "studying the issue, and it's among the planned discussion topics for this week's NFL annual meetings" in Palm Beach, Fla. A team source said that he "expected a vote, though as of the middle of last week, the subject had not been set for one." NFL officials "declined to comment." Several restrictions "would apply to any potential deals -- most notably that the casino could not have a sports gaming book." A casino also would "not be able to use team logos in its advertising." The sector would be "one of the first new sponsorship categories the NFL has opened in several years that previously had been off limits to teams." Sources said that NFL clubs could earn more than $3M annually in spending from casinos. Kaplan notes other leagues such as the NBA and MLB "allow casino advertising" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/26 issue).
