Gambling and the NFL? 'This isn't your grandfather's world of gaming'

ATLANTA — A recent Supreme Court ruling opened the door for Michigan and other states to legalize sports gambling, but that doesn’t mean there will be betting windows at Ford Field anytime soon.

“I can’t envision that right now,” Detroit Lions president Rod Wood told the Free Press at the NFL’s spring meeting Tuesday at The Whitley Hotel. “I think that’s way down the road if it ever were to happen.”

The Michigan legislature is currently considering eight different bills that would expand gambling in the state, including several that deal with sports wagering.

None of the proposals has come to a full vote yet, and there is debate about whether any rule to expand sports gambling would have to be approved by voters.

But the Lions could reap benefits from the Supreme Court’s decision in both direct and indirect ways, regardless of the state’s rules on sports gambling.

While the NFL has yet to suggest an “integrity fee” like other leagues have proposed — taking up to 1 percent of a state’s profits from sports wagers to help ensure the integrity of the game — the league could relax its rules that restrict partnerships with gambling-related institutions.

The NFL currently prohibits the sale of stadium or field naming rights to such establishments, though teams do have some sponsorships in place.

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The Lions, for instance, currently offer a premium seating option called the “MGM Grand Detroit Tunnel Club” that gives fans access to a private area in the bowels of Ford Field, near the Lions locker room. The luxury lounge was branded without “casino” in its name, and none of Detroit’s three casinos currently advertise inside the stadium.

The Miami Dolphins, in another example, play at Hard Rock Stadium, a venue named after a company that operates casinos, and the Oakland Raiders’ pending move to Las Vegas could pose other conflicts — or opportunities — for the league.

“They’ve been opening (up the rules on partnerships with gambling institutions) a little bit more,” Wood said. “We have the MGM relationship. Other teams, I think, have a few casino relationships, but very tightly controlled. And I think that will be slow to come, too, once they kind of figure out what this means and how to regulate it, and in some cases how to take advantage of it. There might be good business opportunities.”

Beyond sponsorship opportunities, the Lions, the NFL and other leagues stand to benefit from a general interest standpoint.

Just as fantasy sports have raised the profile of the NFL, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the league will profit from whatever additional eyeballs come through sports gambling.

"We’ve got great examples of gamings being a part of sport in other parts of the world, certainly Europe, and it’s been extremely compatible and increased interest in sport," Jones said. "To the end that there’s no doubt in my mind that we will not compromise integrity at any juncture, but we don’t have to. This isn’t your grandfather’s world of sport and gaming that we live in today."

While states like Michigan and New Jersey have proposed allowing existing casinos to take bets on sporting events, there likely will be other avenues for sports gamblers.

Wood said he doesn’t know much about micro-betting, where fans can wager on individual plays within a game, but he said he “certainly can see having an app on your phone at some point, or some other easy way,” to place wagers outside of a casino.

Beyond traditional sports wagering, the Supreme Court’s decision could open the door for more peer-to-peer bets (with a gambling site, perhaps, taking a cut of the action), state lottery-style sports wagering and other in-game prop bets.

“It’s still so new I don’t really have much to say on it,” Wood said. “I know it’s something that the league and the other sports leagues were kind of watching because the case obviously was public and high profile. So I think we’re probably going to talk a little bit more about it in this meeting and probably in future meetings as well. And I think all it means right now is that other states have the option of legalizing sports betting. So right now, New Jersey’s on the verge of doing it, might even be almost done. So I guess there might be two states where it’s legal, Nevada and New Jersey.”

Wood said he “can’t imagine” the Lions taking a position on whether the state of Michigan should legalize sports gambling, and he does not foresee the NFL seeking an integrity fee on football-related bets.

“I don’t know how that happens because no one’s been getting it from Vegas,” he said. “If they have had billions of dollars bet and never had to pay an integrity fee, why would New Jersey want to pay an integrity fee? But it’s an interesting pitch.”

Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, told Bloomberg News after the Supreme Court’s decision the value of sports franchises “will at least double” because of the ruling.

Wood said that might be hyperbole, but the legalization of sports gambling will help NFL teams’ bottom lines.

“Doubling’s crazy, or whatever he said, but I think the opportunity to step back and think about it from a business standpoint, if it were to be passed, particularly in your state, is there,” Wood said. “You just have to also work within whatever the league’s rules are going to be. I’m pretty sure that they’re not going to allow teams to own casinos or teams to have a partner relationship with a casino that in any way you’re benefiting from that.”

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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