Off Shore Gaming Association

With the advent of a new sports betting law in the state of Delaware, the NFL has come out with guns a blazin’. They are digging their heels in for a fight that they most likely will not win.

The most powerful league in all of sports told the justices the new law might soon be challenged in a state or federal lawsuit. “I think that it may not have such a long wait,” Nachbar said.

One key point is that the NFL feels that sports betting tarnishes the league’s image. In fact, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had written Delaware Governor Markell stating this as fact while this law was still being debated.

Sports Betting tarnishes the image of the NFL? Michael Vick doesn’t? Pacman doesn’t? Most recently, Donte Stallworth doesn’t? I think the Commissioner should look inside his own organization for tarnished images, not to Delaware lawmakers.

But I digress. The NFL is against gambling . . . or is it ?

It was announced earlier this week that the NFL is getting into bed with state lotteries as the league owners voted to allow teams to partner with lotteries across the country. So far, the New England Patriots have signed up and talks are ongoing in Michigan with the Lions, Minnesota with the Vikings and New York with the Bills, Giants and Jets. The Titans said they would consider a deal in Tennessee and the Packers are interested in Wisconsin.

The joint venture is a dramatic departure for the NFL, which has been staunch in it’s efforts against and affiliations with any type of betting or gambling.

At a press conference this week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said there was a distinction between Delaware’s sports gambling and the state lottery tickets.

“This would purely be scratch-off and chance games. They are not in any way connected to the outcome of our games. That is a critical feature for us,” Goodell said at the press conference. “We do think it is responsive to the pressures that states are feeling right now to help meet some of those budget shortfalls. It has been effective in other sports, and it is something that is a reasonable policy.”

Let’s face it, the NFL sees the lottery tickets as a way to make up for revenue lost from declining sponsorships and merchandise sales and diminishing corporate sky box revenue. This is a thinly veiled attempt for the NFL to promote the teams and to get a cut for licensing the team logos.

Shame on the NFL; Locking up the front door while opening the back door. Please Mr. Goodell, have the league take a stance. Are you for or against gambling?

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This week the tiny state of Delaware beat the odds and enacted a bill to allow sports betting. This one move forced the hand of the NFL who needed to come up with some kind of legal opposition to this new law. Since Delaware was grand-fathered in to allow sports betting, they could not use the Amateur Sports Gaming Protection Act . . . since Delaware has decided that initially the betting will be done via parlay cards, creating a sports betting ‘lottery’, the NFL could not argue that this violated the state constitution. So, the NFL, with its infinite wisdom and apparent willingness to look for a short-sighted victory, played the skill game card.

Hooray for the NFL!! Sports betting is now a game of skill (as if we all didn’t know that by now).

The NFL has argued before that betting on their games was pure chance. They have used this argument previously before the House of Representatives and during other court cases. According to the NFL no skills are required to win at sports gambling, until now. When no less an authority than the National Football League recognizes that sports betting is a game of skill, no further debate is really necessary, is it?

According to a brief filed in the Delaware Supreme Court, the NFL is prepared to argue that betting on their games requires skill, and that “Setting a point spread might make it more difficult for a bettor to decide which outcome to select, but does not render the game one of chance.” Yet the best quote “If a game is predominantly one of chance,” attorney Kenneth J. Nachbar wrote, “it will not matter who is doing the picking — a skilled expert, or a monkey choosing at random.”

I don’t know about you, but there are weeks every season where I think the monkey could do better than me at picking games!

Joe Brennan, the head man at the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA), told us via email that, “We thank the NFL for conceding the obvious, and hope that this point of view will be reflected across the board in their dealings with the gaming industry, both online and off.”

Why does this latest revelation from the NFL matter?

Gambling is loosely defined as wagering in which the outcome depends more on chance than skill. However, many states have statutes that specifically make betting on sports events illegal. Still, not every state specifically prohibits sports wagering or other ‘games of skill’.

Many state laws refer to “Lotteries” instead of “gambling.” Some state courts have held a lottery is defined the same way as gambling: “a wager where the person gets a reward in a manner predominantly determined by chance.” Other courts and laws specifically define “lottery” as you would think: a numbers style game of pure chance.

The NFL wants the Delaware Court to hold that sports betting is not a lottery but is gambling – it involves skill. By using a skill games argument in court, the NFL seems to have failed to see the risk that in many places not being a lottery is exactly the same thing as not being gambling.

Many people have mentioned to us that that a better argument would be that this violates the Federal Wire act of 1961. The Federal Wire Act criminalizes accepting a sports bet made across state lines (or more recently across country boundaries) via a communication device. In reality, it is the Amateur Sports Gaming Protection Act (ASGPA ) that makes the betting of games illegal. This 1992 law is what is basically keeping states from becoming bookies right now and is the law that gives four states, including Delaware, a carve out.

So, though the NFL may have opened the door in one way, the ASGPA might trump any movement from states that are not grand-fathered to allow sports betting. In the meantime, I have to work on my skills.

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This week, the champion of freedoms for Americans Representative Barney Frank introduced yet another offering pointed at legalizing internet gambling. Last year the honorable Mr. Frank introduced similar legislation, which did not get much traction and did his best to block the implementation of the UIGEA. Unfortunately for Internet gamblers, he struck out with both efforts.

Frank’s most recent House Resolution, introduced on Wednesday, is so new that the bill does not yet have a number! Frank said Wednesday at a news conference introducing his bill that he hadn’t spoken to Congressional leadership nor to the Obama administration about the online gambling legislation. Never mind that the U.S. financial system is in the tank, news outlets this week were very interested in this new gambling bill. Frank was asked about his latest piece of legislation on his seemingly daily appearances on Bloomberg, CNN and Fox news. Fox ‘News’ seems to have already made up its mind on Internet gambling, “If running major financial institutions and the auto industry isn’t enough for the Obama administration, a new House bill would put the Treasury Department in charge of Internet gambling.”

View the News Conference video where Frank introduces the Bill here.

The initial offering from The House Financial Services Chairman calls for 5 year licenses for operators and seeks an applicant and any other person associated with the applicant to be a “person of good character, honesty, and integrity.” The bill plans to tax player payouts and makes it illegal for operators who are not licensed to take bets from U.S. citizens.

In all, the bill looks like it is aimed at poker and casino games and operators that are already land-based in the U.S. In fact, sports bettors are completely out-of-luck with this legislation, “No provision of this subchapter shall be construed as authorizing any licensee to operate an Internet gambling facility that knowingly accepts bets or wagers on sporting events from persons located in the United States, except for fantasy or simulation sports games.” It looks like the NFL, fantasy and poker lobbyists are certainly doing their job.

We applaud Barney for his continued efforts but wish he had not thrown sports betting under the bus. In all fairness, his previous efforts had met such staunch opposition form the four major sports leagues, he probably included the above language to create an easier path toward passage. Any laws that establish the Internet to the freedoms that Americans are entitled too are a positive step in the right direction. If nothing else, legalization of Internet gambling would free up the payment gateways.

Still, bettors should not get their hopes up too much as this legislation is far from coming to fruition. Frank indicated that this legislation is still in the early stages and he planned on pushing them through Congress some time before the break in the session scheduled for August.

Once this legislation is actually given a bill number, we will have a way to get involved and contact your representative to let him know to give Barney Frank his/her support. Keep your eye on this space or subscribe to our BLOG feed.

What’s Your Opinion? Add Your Comment Below!

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