gomberg
10-12-2006, 03:31 PM
Just got this article sent to me. Not sure exactly where it's from and I apologize if it's already been mentioned...
| National Football League Involved in Anti-Gambling Bill |
| Published: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 |
| Author: Dan Katz |
| |
| The New York Post reported yesterday that the National Football League |
| had a hand in getting the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act |
| attached to the Safe Port Act, which passed through Congress late on |
| the night of September 29. |
| |
| The NFL hired a high-powered lobbyist to get the anti-online gambling |
| legislation through, while, of course, still keeping fantasy football |
| legal. NFL.com hosts one of the most popular fantasy football leagues, |
| and that, combined with royalties from other fantasy sites, brings the |
| NFL a lot of money each year. All told, according to an industry |
| association, $200 million are spent on online fantasy football every |
| year. The NFL holds fantasy football in such high regard that a link |
| for its fantasy section is highlighted in red (the rest of the menu |
| items are blue) directly underneath the NFL logo on the league's |
| website. |
| |
| The lobbyist hired was lawyer Marty Gold of the firm Covington and |
| Burling. They billed the NFL $700,000 during 2005 for a variety of |
| lobbying efforts, including the internet gambling issue. |
| |
| But here's the kicker (no pun intended). Gold used to be legal counsel |
| to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the man who made it his crusade |
| to sneak the anti-online gambling legislation into anything he could. |
| He was finally able to worm it into the Safe Port Act at the eleventh |
| hour. Sound shady to anyone? |
| |
| In September, the NFL tried to get the gambling measures added to |
| defense legislation. Gold claims it was not he who tried that, but |
| rather new NFL Chairman Roger Goodell, along with former NFL head Paul |
| Tagliabue. The two wrote to Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who is the Senate |
| Armed Services Committee Chairman, urging him to add the gambling |
| wording to the defense bill, but were rebuked by Warner. |
| |
| Warner, in turn, told Frist that it should not be added to the defense |
| bill. After all, it is almost insulting to add something like that to a |
| bill that is designed to help U.S. troops. |
| |
| In the end, Frist was able to get House Homeland Security Chairman Rep. |
| Pete King (R-N.Y.) to tack it on to the Safe Port Act without a vote |
| and without allowing debate in the Senate. |
| |
| George Bush may sign the bill into law as early as this Friday. |
| |
| What is mind boggling here is how hypocritical the NFL is in this. The |
| league makes millions of dollars directly from fantasy football, which |
| is much more of a gambling endeavor than poker. Sure, some people just |
| play for pride, but others spend tens, hundreds, and even thousands of |
| dollars to play in leagues, hoping to win a big prize pool. While we |
| can't control the cards in poker, we can control how we play, and with |
| some practice and skill, even control how our opponents play. There is |
| luck in poker, of course, but there is a lot of skill involved, as |
| well. As fun as fantasy football is, there really is no skill involved. |
| You pick players who you think are going to be good (yes, there is |
| strategy when it comes to when to pick whom, but it's still all a |
| guessing game) and then hope they play well. |
| |
| Fantasy football participants have no control over injuries (the |
| reigning league MVP broke his foot a couple weeks ago - think that sent |
| fantasy owners into a tizzy?), they have no control over how the teams |
| play, they have no control over the weather. The list goes on. This |
| isn't gambling? Come on. |
| |
| On top of that, football is the most popular game for sports bettors. |
| Millions of dollars are wagered every week on both college and |
| professional football. You don't think the NFL's popularity is helped |
| by gamblers hanging on every snap? If sports betting did not exist, |
| football would still be popular, but I guarantee it would not garner |
| the interest it does now. |
| |
| So, it remains unclear what the exact motivations of the NFL were in |
| lobbying to get anti-online gambling legislation passed. But whatever |
| they are, they probably involved hypocrisy, short-sightedness, greed, |
| and misplaced priorities. |
| National Football League Involved in Anti-Gambling Bill |
| Published: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 |
| Author: Dan Katz |
| |
| The New York Post reported yesterday that the National Football League |
| had a hand in getting the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act |
| attached to the Safe Port Act, which passed through Congress late on |
| the night of September 29. |
| |
| The NFL hired a high-powered lobbyist to get the anti-online gambling |
| legislation through, while, of course, still keeping fantasy football |
| legal. NFL.com hosts one of the most popular fantasy football leagues, |
| and that, combined with royalties from other fantasy sites, brings the |
| NFL a lot of money each year. All told, according to an industry |
| association, $200 million are spent on online fantasy football every |
| year. The NFL holds fantasy football in such high regard that a link |
| for its fantasy section is highlighted in red (the rest of the menu |
| items are blue) directly underneath the NFL logo on the league's |
| website. |
| |
| The lobbyist hired was lawyer Marty Gold of the firm Covington and |
| Burling. They billed the NFL $700,000 during 2005 for a variety of |
| lobbying efforts, including the internet gambling issue. |
| |
| But here's the kicker (no pun intended). Gold used to be legal counsel |
| to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, the man who made it his crusade |
| to sneak the anti-online gambling legislation into anything he could. |
| He was finally able to worm it into the Safe Port Act at the eleventh |
| hour. Sound shady to anyone? |
| |
| In September, the NFL tried to get the gambling measures added to |
| defense legislation. Gold claims it was not he who tried that, but |
| rather new NFL Chairman Roger Goodell, along with former NFL head Paul |
| Tagliabue. The two wrote to Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who is the Senate |
| Armed Services Committee Chairman, urging him to add the gambling |
| wording to the defense bill, but were rebuked by Warner. |
| |
| Warner, in turn, told Frist that it should not be added to the defense |
| bill. After all, it is almost insulting to add something like that to a |
| bill that is designed to help U.S. troops. |
| |
| In the end, Frist was able to get House Homeland Security Chairman Rep. |
| Pete King (R-N.Y.) to tack it on to the Safe Port Act without a vote |
| and without allowing debate in the Senate. |
| |
| George Bush may sign the bill into law as early as this Friday. |
| |
| What is mind boggling here is how hypocritical the NFL is in this. The |
| league makes millions of dollars directly from fantasy football, which |
| is much more of a gambling endeavor than poker. Sure, some people just |
| play for pride, but others spend tens, hundreds, and even thousands of |
| dollars to play in leagues, hoping to win a big prize pool. While we |
| can't control the cards in poker, we can control how we play, and with |
| some practice and skill, even control how our opponents play. There is |
| luck in poker, of course, but there is a lot of skill involved, as |
| well. As fun as fantasy football is, there really is no skill involved. |
| You pick players who you think are going to be good (yes, there is |
| strategy when it comes to when to pick whom, but it's still all a |
| guessing game) and then hope they play well. |
| |
| Fantasy football participants have no control over injuries (the |
| reigning league MVP broke his foot a couple weeks ago - think that sent |
| fantasy owners into a tizzy?), they have no control over how the teams |
| play, they have no control over the weather. The list goes on. This |
| isn't gambling? Come on. |
| |
| On top of that, football is the most popular game for sports bettors. |
| Millions of dollars are wagered every week on both college and |
| professional football. You don't think the NFL's popularity is helped |
| by gamblers hanging on every snap? If sports betting did not exist, |
| football would still be popular, but I guarantee it would not garner |
| the interest it does now. |
| |
| So, it remains unclear what the exact motivations of the NFL were in |
| lobbying to get anti-online gambling legislation passed. But whatever |
| they are, they probably involved hypocrisy, short-sightedness, greed, |
| and misplaced priorities. |