The NFL will "curtail its marketing of fantasy football to children ages 6 to 12" this season, according to the AP. The league last year marketed fantasy games "to youngsters on its NFL Rush Fantasy website and app, offering cash prizes and game consoles to contest winners." It also supported curriculum for elementary schools "that encouraged children to play" the fantasy games. The curriculum based on the game "has been discontinued and the league has promised it will not promote fantasy sports in schools in the future" (AP, 7/13). CBS NEWS' Jonathan Berr notes the agreement "came after a meeting with NFL and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), the National Council on Problem Gaming (NCPG) and the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling." CCFC Exec Dir Josh Gilin in an email wrote, "They made significant changes to the game to make it less like gambling." Berr noted officials from the CCFC and NCPG "wrote a letter to the NFL in February complaining about its 'aggressive' marketing of a fantasy football contest for children that offered grand prizes of $5,000 or a vacation for three in Hawaii." Weekly winners also had a chance at winning Xbox One consoles and "Madden NFL 16" games (CBSNEWS.com, 7/13).
