The NFL’s gambling rules have drawn widespread criticism and questions leading up to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas, as the league aims to balance sports betting partnerships and policies that prevent players from betting on games.
Gambling was a major theme of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s annual Super Bowl press conference on Monday, when he said the “integrity of the league” was the top priority.
“We want to make sure that when people watch NFL games, they know that the action on the field is genuine and without outside influence,” Goodell said.
With the marquee sporting event just days away on the US betting hub, it’s worth revisiting the NFL’s player policies and how the league’s stance has changed over time.
NFL Sports Betting Rules
The league has long maintained that players are not allowed to bet on NFL games. The 2023 gaming policy states that players may never place, solicit or facilitate a bet — either directly or through a third party — on “any NFL game, practice or other event, such as the Combine or the Draft.”
Players are also prohibited from engaging in anyone else’s NFL betting activities, such as asking someone to place an NFL-related bet on their behalf or allowing another person to use their account to place an NFL-related bet with the NFL.
Additionally, punters cannot enter a sportsbook during the NFL season (from the Hall of Fame Game to the Super Bowl) “other than by accessing an area outside of a sportsbook,” the rules state. For example, a player may pass through a “where needed” sportsbook to get to a specific part of an entertainment complex, casino, or hotel.
In the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers both stay on Lake Las Vegas, about 25 miles east of the Strip.
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League rules are also specific about when and where players can play.
Players are prohibited from betting on team or league facilities (such as practice facilities, stadiums and offices) or while traveling with their teams (such as on a team plane or in a team hotel) to participate in an NFL game or in-season team activity .
Can NFL players bet on other sports?
Players are allowed to bet on sports other than the NFL in states where betting is legal, subject to NFL rules regarding entering a sportsbook and betting from the workplace.
For example, a player cannot place a bet from an NFL facility even if the bet is not on an NFL game. Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams and Tennessee Titans offensive tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere were suspended this season for violating the rule. They initially received six-game suspensions, but the league updated its gambling policy in September, reducing the penalty from six games to four.
Betting on non-NFL events in the workplace or while working now carries a two-game suspension for the first offense, six games for a second offense and at least one year for a third offense.
What are the betting rules for the Super Bowl?
Members of the two Super Bowl teams, the Chiefs and 49ers, are prohibited from participating in any form of gambling, including casino games and betting on any sport.
Players on the remaining 30 teams can participate in “legal gambling” — but not in the NFL and can’t go to a sportsbook until the Super Bowl is over, the league said.
Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy, said last week: “The rules are no different for the players and other personnel of participating teams as they would be for any other game: When you’re at work, there is no gambling, be it sports gambling or otherwise.
“And any player, coach, staff, yours truly, caught or identified gambling in a casino would be eligible for disciplinary action and would be dealt with in the normal course of discipline as we would any player or other staff who there were elements that violated the rules regarding gambling.”
The NFL’s disciplinary process for gambling violations
Violations of the NFL’s gambling policy are decided by Goodell or his designee on a case-by-case basis under the 2023 rules.
“Discipline may include, without limitation, a fine, suspension, termination of employment and/or lifetime suspension from the NFL,” the rules state.
Here are the basic suspensions for violations of the gaming policy, “with possible upward or downward adjustments,” according to the rules, which note: “Nothing in this policy prevents the commissioner from imposing more discipline for other types prohibited conduct”.
- NFL Betting: Indefinite suspension of at least one year or at least two years if a player bets on an NFL game involving his team
- Actual or attempted game patching: Permanent suspension from the NFL
- Insider information and tips: Indefinite suspension, at least one year
- Third party or proxy bets: Indefinite suspension, at least one year
- Betting (other than NFL) at or on the job:
- First offense: Banned two games without pay
- Second offense: Banned six games without pay
- Third offense: Suspension without pay for at least one year
How has the NFL’s stance on gambling changed?
The AthleteMike Jones explained in a recent article how the NFL’s complicated relationship with sports betting has evolved:
Since the legalization of sports gambling, the NFL has worked hard to walk a tightrope in terms of working with companies like Caesars, FanDuel and DraftKings and also ensuring that players avoid activities that would compromise the integrity of the game. The league has yet to release figures on how much revenue the partnerships with gaming companies generate, but according to the American Gaming Association (AGA), the NFL brings in $2.3 billion annually from these deals.
League officials have long frowned on betting on NFL games and worried that participation would lead to player involvement and questions about the temptation to fix games. But once the Supreme Court in 2018 overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, they felt the need to evolve as well.
“The league’s relationship with sports gambling has changed for a specific reason, and that’s because the world has changed,” Miller said of the league’s efforts to promote responsible sports betting practices. “The Supreme Court overturned (the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) in 2018, five years and some odd months ago. As a result, we had to rethink the way we deal with legalized sports gambling, and that’s what we did. … And we’re going to continue to look and look at how we do that in hopes that we can be the best we can be to protect the integrity of the game in a world where the rules have changed.”
Required reading
(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
