NFL Continues Campaign of Lies Against Sports Betting

The NFL continues to show how stupid it thinks its fans are by denying there is much sports betting among NFL followers.

Despite being castigated in the national media for the ridiculous charade, the National Football League continues to release inaccuracies and disingenuous remarks in support of its opposition to sports betting. The league has exploited the popularity brought it by illegal sports booking, and now lets its teams partner with state lotteries to use its brands as gambling enticements, but opposes even online gambling that doesn't relate to sports.

The NFL is apparently working on a lawsuit to block Delaware's new sports betting lottery. League officials are noticing the sudden interest in sports betting being paid by Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania and Governor Jon Corzine of New Jersey, each of whom is envious of the Delaware plan.

"If sports betting becomes more prevalent through state-promoted schemes, it will inevitably lead those gambling fans to question whether an erroneous officiating call or a dropped pass late in the game resulted from an honest mistake or an intentional act by a corrupt player or referee," NFL spokesman Joe Browne told the Wall Street Journal. Browne didn't comment on assertions that the public already questions those, and that the current illegal betting seems more likely to bring fan skepticism than any regulated format.

Browne said that, in a league study, only "a very small percentage" of fans watching NFL games on television bet on football. But a random Online Casino Advisory sampling of sports bar patrons found that, of 345 questioned, only 38 said they had never bet money on a game.

Of the remainder, 261 said they had at some time placed a bet with either a local bookie, online casino, or Nevada sports book. People who had bet with one of these professional books within the last year numbered 232, and those who said they usually bet at least one game a week during the season came in at 196.

Of course, as OCA gaming analyst Sherman Bradley pointed out, those figures came from an assortment of sports bar customers. If the NFL conducted its survey at fundamentalist church meetings and mosques, perhaps they truly did encounter small percentages of participation, says Bradley.