The NFL office distributed a memo last week to the 32 clubs amid all the talk in sports about prop betting. It is a very popular form of betting but, from a league’s standpoint, the most dangerous type of gambling.
The league wanted to remind the teams that it has actively engaged with decision makers ranging from Congress to state regulators to its sports gambling business partners to “limit – and where possible prohibit altogether — prop bets in the NFL”.
The memo also was a reminder that the league always has banned prop bets in four different wager categories ranging from officiating-related calls to bets on plays determined by one player. We all have read the stories about MLB baseball players being suspended for incidents in that last category where pitchers allegedly have thrown balls– rather than strikes– to help gamblers win their prop bets.
The NFL’s five-year contracts that began in 2021 with its legalized betting partners reportedly pay the league a total of just under one billion dollars. Prop bets such as whether a quarterback’s first pass in a game will be a completion or whether a specific field goal attempt will be good are not permitted to be accepted by the betting companies. The league regularly reviews and updates its agreements to limit and prohibit these kinds of bets.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the ban on sports betting in 2018 and, since that time, 39 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation authorizing sports betting. Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision, less than $5 billion was bet by Americans on sports. In 2024, it is estimated that total increased to nearly $150 billion. The popular prop bets are included in that new gambling money.
A Washington Post columnist this week wrote: “It would be wonderful if all (legalized) sports betting could again be banned but, failing that, at least prop betting, which invites manipulation.” They also put player safety at risk. For example, Giants kicker Graham Gano recently said that he has received death threats ever since legalized sports betting started happening.
Three-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes has spoken to– and about –his fellow players regarding the dangers of gambling.
“The NFL and NFLPA tell us all the different rules that you can and cannot do,” Mahomes recently said. “I just stay away from it. I don’t want to put myself in that position. It’s a crazy world we all live in these days. I think if we just focus on football, focus on the sport we love and why we are here, then you won’t have to worry about that other stuff.”
We at NFL Alumni hope that our brothers, who still are playing, listen to the winning veteran quarterback and focus on playing the great sport we all love.
