The NFL and Fantasy Football

[mgteich]

The NFLN stopped discussing point spreads because of the use of such spreads in legal and illegal gambling.

NFLN hasn't stopped given fantasy football recommendations. I could see action agains the league, if betting on fantasy football is deemed to be illegal gambling.

Kraft and Jones are already on the hook because their companies have equity interests in the banned fantasy football organizations.
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I am NOT commenting on whether fantasy football is good or bad, interesting or not. However, it is clear that certain jurisdiction ban gambling, and others do not. And now, certain jurisdiction consider betting on fantasy football to be illegal gambling. I'm not sure why this is a surprise to anyone.

Perhaps every state and city should allow gambling. Perhaps internet gambling should be OK. The fact is that certain jurisdictions have other views.

 

[patchick]

As I understand it, wagering in a "traditional" fantasy sports league is explicitly carved out in the law as a game of skill, not chance, and perfectly legal. The controversial point is whether daily betting sites like FanDuel and DraftKings really are fantasy sports leagues, or just garden-variety gambling houses dressed up in sports uniforms. (IMO they're just like betting on horse races.)

As long as commentators are addressing who to pick up on the waiver wire, who to play and who to sit, etc., it seems to me that they can legitimately talk fantasy football all they like.

 

[brdmaverick]

It's definitely a tough subject for the NFL. It's like they have one foot in and one foot out. Here's how....

1.) As you noted the NFLN will NOT use point spreads b/c of they do NOT want to condone gambling.

2.) BUT, what do you think is the main purpose of the weekly injury reports? For gambling.

There definitely seems to be a gray area between 'betting on results of games' and 'betting on the stats of players involved in these games' that I do suspect will be far less gray (to the point in which I expect they will ultimately be treated the same).

 

[patchick]

2.) BUT, what do you think is the main purpose of the weekly injury reports? For gambling.

Hmm...I always understood that the goal of the injury reports was to create enough transparency to discourage gambling interests from infiltrating locker rooms, bribing team staffers, etc. to gain access to injury info.

 

[Off The Grid]

The Fact that Betting in any form is illegal in any State is a disgusting Atrocity. Excessive Gambling can be destructive, but so can excessive Donuts. Gambling in and of itself does not impose Harm on others. To legislate against what one does with one's Money is the Work of hypocritical, verminous Scum.

This is The Land Of The Free, last I heard.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The Fact that Betting in any form is illegal in any State is a disgusting Atrocity. Excessive Gambling can be destructive, but so can excessive Donuts. Gambling in and of itself does not impose Harm on others. To legislate against what one does with one's Money is the Work of hypocritical, verminous Scum.

This is The Land Of The Free, last I heard.

Fool!
Don't you know that the government knows far better than you how your money should be spent?

 

[Observer]

Its your money until you are broke and using my money to get by.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

 

[Observer]

By the way, how do they reconcile anti gambling laws with state lotteries? Or is the purpose to eliminate competition?

 

[RobertWeathers]

The Fact that Betting in any form is illegal in any State is a disgusting Atrocity. Excessive Gambling can be destructive, but so can excessive Donuts. Gambling in and of itself does not impose Harm on others. To legislate against what one does with one's Money is the Work of hypocritical, verminous Scum.

This is The Land Of The Free, last I heard.

As a fmr bookie in college I have very specific views on this issue.

If people want to gamble....so be it. They can make their own damn decisions.

If the govt wants to recognize it as income or revenue and collect....so be it.

If the NFL is fearful of owners and players being influenced by the business, make tough rules which ban them from unethical activity.

I am sick of this convienent hypocricy BS when ethics shift as the wind blows and constituents breathe.

I know high end card sharks that will argue to the death that poker is all skill.

Make it all skill or chance...who freaking cares?

Focus on real problems like terrorism, poverty, education and this country's screwed up tax code and health care system.

 

[Wheelman]

By the way, I had the tv on while snoozing, I don't think I heard anything about how much they put down on players for draftkings/fanfuel on BSPN NFL insiders. All they did was put up fantasy points. Probably because of what's happening with it now?

 

[ChessToCheckers]

Gambling is fine by me. I enjoy the casino and pick up a lottery ticket upon occasion. Fantasy Football is fun. I'm been in our family "league" (no money at stake, only bragging rights) for several years.

But I love pro football WAY MORE than Fantasy Football. I am concerned that FF will drive the shape and future of Pro Football more and more. Will coaches be pressured to play certain players or run certain plays in conflict with what's best for the game on the field? Will refs, players, and coaches be more likely targets for bribes? Will the competition committee make rules more favorable to FF than player safety? I sure don't have answers, but I feel that conflicting interests will not be good for Pro football.

 

[patchick]

On why it matters whether daily FF is "gambling" or a "game of chance," just look at what happened when it was revealed that FanDuel and DraftKings employees were using inside company info to win tons of money playing against the general public. There turned out to be no rules against it because the "non-gambling" FF industry was totally unregulated.

 

[jmt57]

The idea that Daily Fantasy Sports is a game of skill, but other activities such as poker, betting on point spreads, etc. is strictly a game of chance is ludicrous.

The finger pointing should be pointed at the politicians that legalized DFS in the first place. The two big companies received huge funding from venture capital groups, and undoubtedly there were sizable campaign contributions made. I have been saying from day one that it is incredibly hypocritical that a person can wager on the outcome of a DFS lineup, but cannot wager on the outcome of a game or play poker for money.

On a side note, one of the biggest investors in Fan Duel is Comcast. We saw first hand back in 2007-08 how they not only can play hardball, but how they can purchase the influence of a United States senator.

 

[patsfaninpa]

The Fact that Betting in any form is illegal in any State is a disgusting Atrocity. Excessive Gambling can be destructive, but so can excessive Donuts. Gambling in and of itself does not impose Harm on others. To legislate against what one does with one's Money is the Work of hypocritical, verminous Scum.

This is The Land Of The Free, last I heard.

Legalize gambling, weed and prostitution and revenues explode for gov't. Less spent on arresting and incarcerating them too.

 

[Wheelman]

I haven't been really paying attention, not sure I saw anything on NFL* Network either. I haven't been paying attention to Fox or CBS much either. Nice to see that shutdown from the pre game shows.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Legalize gambling, weed and prostitution and revenues explode for gov't. Less spent on arresting and incarcerating them too.

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

On why it matters whether daily FF is "gambling" or a "game of chance," just look at what happened when it was revealed that FanDuel and DraftKings employees were using inside company info to win tons of money playing against the general public. There turned out to be no rules against it because the "non-gambling" FF industry was totally unregulated.

It's totally unregulated in the sense that it's only regulated by 150 laws instead of 151. The insider information claim is a bit dubious. They were betting on other sites. Now maybe that isn't a good policy but they had information from a similar but separate company.

 

[jmt57]

The Kommisar comments on DFS, walking the tightrope of not saying anything inflammatory towards the NFL's business partners (networks) biggest advertiser, with a bunch of phony 'we care about the fans' BS:

 

[XLIX]

It's totally unregulated in the sense that it's only regulated by 150 laws instead of 151. The insider information claim is a bit dubious. They were betting on other sites. Now maybe that isn't a good policy but they had information from a similar but separate company.

The accusation of insider information is totally legit. Player selection trends are remarkably similar on each website, so an employee having access to inside info on his website will gain a tremendous, unfair benefit when playing on the other website.

I don't really know how such a thing can be prevented. The simple solution is to say employees of DFS's can't play on other DFS websites, but anyone with a friend who owns a computer could get around that quite easily.

The whole thing stinks to high heaven, and the league's hypocrisy would be hilarious if it wasn't so galling.