NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith said that the NFL has "not taken the steps he believes are needed to protect the integrity of the game" amid discussion around sports betting, according to David Purdum of ESPN.com. Smith pointed to league policies "allowing team owners to have investments in bookmakers, plans to monetize game and player data without thorough discussions with all stakeholders, and even the NFL's approach to fantasy football as troublesome issues" as more legal sportsbooks pop up, including in states with franchises such as New Jersey. Since the Supreme Court's ruling on sports betting, Smith said that the NFLPA has approached the league to "work together on the sports betting issue," but has received "only limited communication." Smith: "If they're not willing to work with the players as partners in this, my concern is that once the 'integrity genie' is out of the bottle it's going to be impossible to get it back in." NFL VP/Communications & Public Affairs Jocelyn Moore was "among five witnesses at last week's hearing" in front of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations. Moore called on Congress to "create a federal framework for sports betting," which includes stipulations requiring sportsbook operators to "use official league data when grading wagers." The NFL allows league personnel, including team owners, to "own equity interest in an entity that generates less than a third of its revenue from gambling-related operations." Smith said of the policy, "It is still a league that allows owners to be stakeholders in gambling operations, yet continues to message sort of a myopic approach" (ESPN.com, 10/3).
