NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell today "pledged the league's integrity will not be damaged by the legalization of sports gambling," according to Evan Grossman of the N.Y. DAILY NEWS. The Supreme Court's recent decision "will allow individual states to legalize it on a rolling basis." However, instead of having a "patchwork of up to 50 different state laws governing sports gaming, the NFL has called for a federal law that would create more uniform rules and regulations." The NFL has "not been as bullish as other leagues, such as the NBA and MLB, in demanding a payment or 'integrity tax' be applied to every bet placed on its games." But Goodell in a statement referenced intellectual property, which may be "setting the stage for a brewing battle between the NFL and sportsbooks over who owns play-by-play data and statistics that people wager on." The statement "seems to indicate the NFL may dig in to try to impose a fee on bets based on the idea the league feels it owns its results" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 5/21). Pepperdine sports law professor Alicia Jessop writes on Twitter, "The NFL’s approach to the issue is much more nuanced than other leagues’." Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith: "Goodell's statement on gambling suggests that the NFL knows it's pointless to keep fighting the expansion of legal sports betting. The part about protecting the NFL's intellectual property suggests they want a cut of the action via an 'integrity fee.'" CBSSports.com's Will Brinson: "'Access to official, reliable league data' means 'we want people to pay us for our data.'" The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jeff Schultz: "You can read point 2 as 'We want our cut'" (TWITTER.com, 5/21).
FEDERAL EXPRESSION: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is "a proponent of federal regulation to 'provide a uniform approach to sports gambling in states that choose to permit it.'" In Las Vegas, Richard Velotta wrote it is possible federal lawmakers will "want to involve themselves in gambling oversight, but the whole point of the Supreme Court's decision was to give states the ability to decide whether they want gambling." American Gaming Association CEO Geoff Freeman is "confident that federal lawmakers will stay away from regulating sports betting, which probably would be the easiest way for the NBA to carve out a royalty." U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) said, "I don't think you'll see it happen here in Congress. For one thing, this is not a priority with them. They are not even very knowledgeable about how gaming works and certainly not about PASPA. It's going to be very hard to roll all of that back and push it into one federal bill" (REVIEWJOURNAL.com, 5/19).
WANTING IN ON THE ACTION: Sportscorp President Marc Ganis said, "As legalized sports gaming expands, there will be meaningful additional costs imposed on sports leagues to ensure the integrity of coaches, players, referees. There must be protection against the reality or the perception that coaches and players or others could alter the outcomes of games." Former MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent asked if there would be a "special post created to prevent the malfeasance from taking root in sports." Vincent: "Is there going to be a commissioner of gambling? How are we going to deal with a totally blank sheet?" In N.Y., Christian Red notes Pittsburgh-based sports attorney Jay Reisinger thinks leagues "are smart to seek integrity fees," but he also believes pro sports unions "would be wise to seek a cut of that revenue too." Reisinger: "(Wagering) will increase the value of each franchise. You've got money flowing from a number of different places -- increased TV viewership which will lead to increased TV revenue. There will be sponsorship deals with casinos and other gambling outlets." Ganis, referring to Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban's statement that franchise values will double, said, "There is a bit of exuberance in that statement. There should be an increase in the value of teams as the leagues find ways to monetize the results of the ruling. There will be an increase, no doubt. It will just take some time to figure out how to oversee sports betting. But yes, I think sports team owners were quietly applauding the ruling" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/20). Warriors co-Owner Joe Lacob, when asked about Cuban’s proclamation, said, “That’s a little bit of hyperbole.” Lacob said there is “probably going to be some value to it, but we don’t know yet.” Lacob: “I don’t really know … if this integrity fee’s going to work out or not, how much revenue there’ll be there.” He said sports betting will “certainly help with sponsorships and some other peripheral areas, and maybe there will be some direct revenues, but I don’t know.” He noted, “It’s got to be sorted out at the state level” ("NBA Draft Combine," ESPN2, 5/20).
MEDIA MATTERS: ESPN's Scott Van Pelt said that TV networks "could potentially create leagues, similar to fantasy sports," and they also could "program to bettors, for example, in the hour before NFL games when there are fewer people watching." Van Pelt said, "The number of revenue streams that come out of this are endless." DraftKings said that it "has been preparing since" '17 to "launch a sports-betting platform for mobile." DraftKings Chief Business Officer Ezra Kucharz said that he "sees opportunities for more marketing spending and has also received more interest from advertisers in DraftKings' platform." The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Bruell and Ramachandran noted the SCOTUS ruling also "sparked new potential bidders for Sports Illustrated." Meredith Corp. Chief Communications Officer Art Slusark said that following the SCOTUS decision, the SI parent company "received several new inquiries from parties interested in the brand" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/19).
THE DOWN SIDE: In Atlanta, Jeff Schultz wrote this decision will change not just sports, it is "going to change everything," and "not necessarily for the better." Schultz: "If you believe the purity of sport had eroded before, just wait." Gambling scandals in sports "could become commonplace, perhaps surpassing those involving performance-enhancing drugs." There is going to be "more second-guessing in games than you can possibly imagine," and there is also going to be a "rise in gambling addictions" (AJC.com, 5/19). In Minneapolis, Hine & Rand wrote under the header, "NBA Or MLB, Not NFL, May Gain Most From Regulated Gambling" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 5/20).
