The period directly after the completion of the NBA Playoffs and the NHL‘s Stanley Cup Finals ranks among the most barren on the sports betting calendar, as bettors gear up for the start of NFL training camp in late July.
The NFL uses this break in the action to educate players on new policies and for clarification of some byzantine ones, such as its policy on sports wagering. The topic has generated considerable attention in the wake of several player-gambling incidents that have come to light during the offseason.
The NFL has hosted seminars on the league’s betting policy with 14 teams this offseason, with plans to meet with six additional clubs in the coming weeks, said Sabrina Perel, the NFL’s chief compliance officer, on a Tuesday afternoon conference call with reporters.
The call took place approximately two weeks after Sports Handle broke a story on alleged betting activity by a member of the Indianapolis Colts inside the team’s practice facility. According to a source with firsthand knowledge of the activity, the player placed hundreds of wagers, including some on his team to win. ESPN later reported that the player in question is defensive back Isaiah Rodgers Sr., which Rodgers seemed to confirm hours later on social media.
The NFL has also enlisted Tom Brady to film a responsible gambling message for players to view during the offseason. As first reported by Colorado’s 9 News, Brady implores players to uphold the integrity of the game in the video, which was disseminated to team facilities in recent weeks.
On Tuesday’s 45-minute call, NFL executives discussed several sports gambling matters, including match manipulation, commercial partnerships with sportsbooks, “player prohibited” lists, and whether the league will relax current policies that bar players from wagering on other sports or leagues from inside team facilities. The NFL did not provide a timetable for the completion of the Rodgers investigation, nor did it indicate if any other players are under investigation for potentially violating the league’s policy on sports betting.
Workplace gambling violations
The NFL outlined six key provisions in its training program for players to be particularly mindful of. According to NFL rules, they cannot engage in any gambling inside a club or league facility or venue. In addition, players are not allowed to wager on any sport while on a team charter or bus. The rule extends to team hotels in home cities and on the road.
Said Jeff Miller, NFL executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy, “We like to say that there’s lots of rules governing the workplace, there are lots of things that you can’t do at work, that you can do at home.”
On Tuesday’s call, several reporters pressed league officials on why wagering on a sport or league other than the NFL could compromise the integrity of the game. Two players from the Detroit Lions’ 2022 roster, Jameson Williams and Stanley Berryhill, received six-game suspensions for reportedly betting on college football from the team facility. Had the wagers been placed on a smartphone from a restaurant parking lot down the street, neither player would have faced suspension.
“If our number one mission is to protect integrity, why are we having gambling in the workplace?” Perel responded.
Other takeaways
A point of contention in recent weeks surrounds the dissemination of so-called “player prohibited lists” that can serve as a tool for regulators to better detect gambling activity among active professional athletes.
Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission Administrator Brian Ohorilko told Sports Handle in May that the NBA is the only league that provides such a list to his state. In response, Perel noted that it is fair to say that the issue is “foremost” on the mind of a number of regulators. The NFL, she added, is working through the issue while addressing various privacy concerns.
If Rodgers is reprimanded for his alleged betting infractions, he will be the eighth NFL player to be punished for violating the policy since the U.S. Supreme Court’s PASPA decision. With the previous seven, the league did not uncover any evidence to suggest that the outcomes of games were manipulated.
Still, Miller takes little solace that the cases do not contain a match-fixing element, telling reporters that the circumstances around each case matter less than upholding the integrity of the sport.
“The first principle of this, is in an increasingly challenging environment, the integrity of the game still has to be paramount,” he emphasized.
Perel, meanwhile, described an anecdote from one training session where a player inquired if he could enter a sportsbook upon the completion of his team’s season. In this scenario, a player’s team fails to make the playoffs, but he is interested in entering a retail sportsbook during the postseason.
The rule applies for the entire league year, Perel explained, from the Hall of Fame Game in August to the Super Bowl in February. Despite the many casinos in Las Vegas, the league has not created a carve-out for Raiders players who may unintentionally enter a sportsbook area.
Additional reporting by Jill R. Dorson
