NFL enlists Christian right to fight Barney Frank

[DeliciousBass]

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Can someone explain to me why they are doing this?

Is the NFL concerned that their own players are going to be sports betting and thus jeapordizing the integrity of the games? If so, I don't see how banning internet gambling is going to prevent NFL players from placing wagers.... If not, how does the law affect the NFL? That is, why should they care if fans are betting or not?

Thanks.

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Their concern is something along the lines of, "gambling on sporting events has the potential to hurt the integrity of the game". The idea being the games should be played within specific guidelines with each side trying to be victorious. The fear is players, coaches, owners, etc. could be influenced and somehow perform in a manner that is not conducive to winning. The policy to determine the order of the NFL draft remains unchanged...

How this relates to "Lucky Seas Crazy Slots" and online poker, blackjack, pai-gow, etc. is beyond me. If the NFL does not want online casinos to offer wagering on NFL games Frank's bill gives them the option to opt out. (I firmly believe that someone, somewhere inside the offices of the NFL is well aware of how important sport-wagering is to the NFL's bottom line. If there is not, a person will soon be assigned to research why there has been a dramatic drop-off in Sunday Ticket subs...then they will become aware.) As far as Wexler's bill goes...they would be better off fighting a bill that earmarks money to look into soybean fuels and claim it's because they're opposed to wagering on NFL events...it would make as much sense.

The thing is the NFL is opposed to Frank's bill (I'm not sure they've said anything about the Study or Wexler's bill) the problem they have is...they've tied themselves to FoF. For whatever reason (lack of sleep perhaps) I just can't put the FoF's views into a reasonable relationship with the typical, rabid, NFL fan's (or even the typical, casual NFL fan's).

Much like the GOP's current problem (the alienation of their core) I see this as a similar misstep on the part of the NFL.

[Uglyowl]

I understand why a sports league wouldn't want gambling, but then how does Vegas exist? Haven't we already crossed the line here?

Your right and I am sure ESPN has a vested interest to. How much of their audience is due to pools/gambling.

To me, MNF is usually the game that decides the office pools (other than the 20% that are home team or a key matchup with huge playoff implications). I like football and all, but not stay up til 1:00AM and get 5 hours of sleep before work for the sake of the game.

[Legislurker]

[ QUOTE ]
I understand why a sports league wouldn't want gambling, but then how does Vegas exist? Haven't we already crossed the line here?

Your right and I am sure ESPN has a vested interest to. How much of their audience is due to pools/gambling.

To me, MNF is usually the game that decides the office pools (other than the 20% that are home team or a key matchup with huge playoff implications). I like football and all, but not stay up til 1:00AM and get 5 hours of sleep before work for the sake of the game.

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It would have been so useful to have the PPA involved in this and easily find 10k people who had bought Sunday Ticket last year to call in and cancel/demand a backdown on an opposition to poker. The demographics have shfited and MOST people gamble in some way or another, just the holier than thou, isolated, rich douches who run things haven't noticed.
I think even 1k people calling in cancelling SUnday Ticket would havecaused a backpedal.

[frommagio]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I understand why a sports league wouldn't want gambling, but then how does Vegas exist? Haven't we already crossed the line here?

Your right and I am sure ESPN has a vested interest to. How much of their audience is due to pools/gambling.

To me, MNF is usually the game that decides the office pools (other than the 20% that are home team or a key matchup with huge playoff implications). I like football and all, but not stay up til 1:00AM and get 5 hours of sleep before work for the sake of the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

It would have been so useful to have the PPA involved in this and easily find 10k people who had bought Sunday Ticket last year to call in and cancel/demand a backdown on an opposition to poker. The demographics have shfited and MOST people gamble in some way or another, just the holier than thou, isolated, rich douches who run things haven't noticed.
I think even 1k people calling in cancelling SUnday Ticket would havecaused a backpedal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you for not referring to our opponents as ChristaNazis or fascists; this represents a great improvement in your forum contributions during the past few days. Although "holier than thou, isolated, rich douches" might seem to be a bit out of line, I do understand that even this required considerable self-restraint on your part. Some of us (including myself) appreciate that you are making a sincere effort to improve.

[TheEngineer]

Another article, at www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/15/nfl_focus_on_family/


NFL enlists Christian soldiers in anti-gambling fight
God, football and the point spread
By Burke Hansen in San Francisco

The behind-the-scenes putsch that forced the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) through a skeptical Congress last year saw a little sunshine this week. Witness the news that the National Football League has teamed up with James Dobson's Focus on the Family and other right-wing Christians to head off efforts to liberalize and regulate the online gambling industry.

The NFL has brought in some big guns to make sure that Congressman Barney Frank's attempt to repeal the law and regulate the troublesome industry never gets out of committee, according to the Financial Times. Former Senate Majority leader Bill Frist attached the controversial UIGEA in the middle of the night to an unrelated port security bill, and one of his top advisors, Bill Wichterman, is now lobbying on behalf of the NFL to uphold the UIGEA.

As the Finanancial Times noted, an email obtained from Wichterman "encouraged conservative groups to co-sign a letter to Congress that ostensibly was written by Focus on the Family. 'The threat posed by the Frank legislation is very real, and we must actively work against it,' Wichterman wrote."

The letter encourages anti-gambling Christians to take up the fight against Frank's legislation.

The Christian Coalition, among others, signed the letter, which urges members of Congress to protect the integrity - whatever that means - of the UIGEA, and warned lawmakers to be on the watch for "misinformation campaigns [by] foreign gambling interests".

Whether "foreign gambling interests" refers to Antigua and the WTO or not, the NFL clearly does not believe that the opt-out provisions for sports organizations in Frank's legislation are sufficient to protect the integrity of the game. One would think that the huge black market for sports betting in the United States would be even more of a threat, but for those morally opposed to gambling, practical social policy is irrelevant. Gambling bad. Jesus good.

Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest gambling day of the year, with billions wagered on the event annually, and gambling point spreads are routinely tossed around on pre-game events. The NFL also directly participates in fantasy football leagues, which were specifically exempted by the UIGEA. If anything, sports wagering seems to be a real boost to the league's popularity.

So what's the big deal? Leagues in the UK, where legalized gambling on sporting events is prevalent, seem to do just fine, and in the public mind, doping seems to be a bigger concern - at least as far as integrity goes. There is no perfect system, as recent NBA developments make clear, but regulation if anything seems preferable - after all, NBA referee Tim Donaghy got into trouble with underground bookies. In Las Vegas, where everything is legal and closely scrutinized, point shaving is nearly impossible.

"Whispers would have happened on the street, and we would have heard something," Jay Kornegay, executive director of the sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton, said to ESPN, when asked about the scandal last month. "Any type of suspicious or unusual movements, you usually hear in the industry. We're so regulated and policed, any kind of suspicion would be discussed."