NFL, Sports Leagues Protest Casino Bill Despite No Sports Betting

The protests by the NFL and other sports leagues against the Frank online casino bill do not connect to voiced concerns about sports betting and league postures on gambling not involving sports.

The National Football League continues to paint itself into an inescapable corner with its flip-flop statements regarding gambling policy. The league has gathered with other sports associations to protest Barney Frank's proposed licensing of online casinos, even though Frank specifically leaves sports betting illegal.

The NFL has a long-standing position as one of the major lobbyists against Internet gambling, and has supported legislation including the UIGEA that seeks to prohibit online gaming. With the emergence of the new Frank bill, the NFL joined with Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association to decry the Frank effort.

In a letter sent by the leagues to the House Financial Services Committee, the group asserted that Frank's bill “reverses nearly 50 years of clear federal policy against sports betting."

This led some gaming insiders to wonder aloud if lsports league officials even read the Frank bill before composing their protest.

“No one will be betting on professional sports games,” Frank said about legal sports betting when his bill was released. He wondered about the disingenuous claims of the NFL, on whose games billions are wagered illegally, but aceded to demands and left sports gambling out.

“The expression by the professional leagues of shock at the notion that people would actually bet on games was one of the least persuasive emotional outbursts I have encountered, but we acknowledged the reality of it,” said Frank.

Yet, even though sports are not part of the discussion, the leagues wrote that "it (the Frank bill) opens the door wide to sports gambling on the Internet.”

Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has assured listeners that league owners deciding to let clubs partner with lotteries, a policy already in effect with the other sports associations, does not represent a contradiction.

"They (state lotteries) are not in any way connected to the outcome of our games. That is a critical feature for us," says Goodell.

But Frank's bill concerning online casinos is in no way connected to the outcomes of games. Er... ahhh.... need a new can of paint, Mr. Commissioner?