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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Roger Goodell On NFL's Involvement With Daily Fantasy Sports: "We Follow The Law"

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday "did not back away from the league’s involvement with daily fantasy football sites, despite allegations of insider trading at FanDuel and DraftKings," according to Lorenzo Reyes of USA TODAY. Goodell said, "The first thing we do is protect the integrity of the game. I draw a distinction between season-long fantasy football and daily fantasy because season-long fantasy has been around for quite a while. Things evolve. But states are the ones that make the determinations about whether something is legal or not legal. We follow the law and we will do that." Reyes notes FanDuel "has sponsorship deals with 15 NFL teams, and television advertisements for both sites have appeared extensively during NFL broadcasts." Goodell added, "Consumer protection and making sure companies operate responsibly is important to us. So, yes, that’s going to be important to us." Reyes notes Goodell’s comments "won’t end the ongoing debate about whether daily fantasy football should be constituted as a form of gambling." Based off of Goodell’s remarks, it "sounds like the only thing that would bring about a change in that regard would be a shift through legislation" (USA TODAY, 10/8). Goodell said that he "does not believe the scandal will compromise the integrity of the league." He added, "It is hard to see the influence that it could have on an outcome of a game" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 10/8).

FLAGS FLYING: USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell notes NFL games through four weeks of the regular season -- with penalties occurring at a record pace -- "ran an average of 3 hours, 8 minutes and 52 seconds, up nearly four minutes from the 3-hour, 5-minute average at a similar point last season." Cowboys COO & Exec VP Stephen Jones said, "What we’re trying to do is clean the game up a little bit, in terms of some of the penalties we’re calling. I think eventually, it’ll come back around. But right now, we’re trying to clean it up." Bell notes 1,143 penalties "have been accepted, a record clip of 18.1 per game, which has greatly contributed to the longer games that the league has for years tried to contain." Given the "made-for-TV flavor of the NFL, the league has traditionally sought for games to be played in about 3 hours" (USA TODAY, 10/8).

MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLEHILL: In Boston, Ben Volin writes of the owners meeting, "It’s foolish at this point to go into one of these news conferences and expect anything of substance, but each time Goodell seems to come up with new ways to talk in circles." Volin: "If we really want to know how the NFL feels, we have to talk to Goodell’s bosses -- the 32 owners. We already know how the Krafts feel, and owners such as Jerry Jones and Jerry Richardson outwardly supported Goodell before [Judge Richard] Berman’s ruling came out." But yesterday "was also the first time we’d gotten a chance to speak to the owners since the [Deflategate] ruling came down, and there certainly seems to be an egg-on-our-face vibe among some of them." An AFC owner said, "Could we have handled it better? Yes. We sort of made a mountain out of a mole hill" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/8).

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