Former IGT Interactive Executive Robert Melendres Founded iPro in 2013.
The National Football League this week dropped plans to release the mobile application, Ringit!, which gamblers could have used in their sports betting activities. The Ringit mobile app was developed in a partnership between Sportradar US and iPro, a mobile gaming company. Sportradar US is the American distributor of the NFL and is partly-owned by America’s biggest sports league.
Ringit! would have allowed players to play a game which would have allowed its users to predict in-game events, such as whether the next play would be a pass or a run, or which players might be involved in the next play. Such a game did not seem offensive to the NFL on the drawing board.
Ringit Provides Fast NFL Stats
The problem appeared when the NFL realized the application would allow players to collate NFL stats to help them make those predictions. Armed with up-to-the-minute data supplied by a seemingly-harmless gaming app, gamblers could have use the program to have improved their in-game proposition wagaers. That was the thinking in the league office, at least.
Sportradar: “Sports Betting for Cash”
An initial press release by SportRader on Thursday said the application would “feature both fantasy play [for virtual coins] and full sports betting for cash”. That release caused the NFL to make an about-face move and drop its support for Ringit. The league office said it “had not approved use of its data”.
ESPN’s Outside the Lines contacted the NFL league office to question it about the decision and was told that initial release has been made “in error”. Sportradar changed its press release to state that it was releasing data to iPro for a “social game where no money exchanges hands”. In the same exchange, a Sportradar executive said its company wanted “to eliminate any confusion about iPro’s future plans with Sportradar’s data feeds.”
NFL: “Done without Our Knowledge or Consent”
Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, told Outside The Lines, “This was done without our knowledge or consent. We are speaking to Sportradar US. This [real-money betting] is not permitted in our agreement.”
Tom Goedde on the Ringit Application
Tom Goedde, Chief Marketing Officer of the Incline Village, Nevada-based iPro, disagrees with the purpose for the gaming app. He said that the company plans on releasing Ringit for real money gambling in the future. According to Goedde, the Ringit application accommodates three types of gaming: social, fantasy sports, and play-by-play sports betting.
When asked to clarify whether iPro would provide support for sports betting and daily fantasy sports gaming, Tom Goedde said, “That will be part of our next announcement….There are other providers of data, but they [Sportradar] are the official one. They are the best at what they’re doing today, and they are our chosen partner.”
DFS Controversy Fallout
The announcement comes as the NFL faces increased scrutiny about its connection to daily fantasy sports. The main DFS companies, FanDuel and DraftKings, have sponsorship deals with most of the NFL franchises. Those companies also advertise heavily during pro football games with the NFL’s media partners, ESPN, NBC, CBS, and Fox. Even the NFL Network shows DraftKings and FanDuel commercials.
The connection is being questioned, as the daily fantasy sports industry is dealing with scandal and public outcry. Recently, the states of Nevada and New York declared DFS is sports betting and is not protected under the 2006 UIGEA law. Nevada told DraftKings and FanDuel they would have to apply for a gaming license (and admit their game is betting) to operate legally, while New York’s attorney general banned the activity altogether. To skirt the ban, the two DFS companies launched separate lawsuits with the New York State Supreme Court.
New Jersey Sports Betting Case
Complicating the situation is the hardline stance the NFL and the US’s other top sports associations (NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA) have taken on sports betting. The league championed the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which limited sports betting to Nevada, Delaware, Montana, and Oregon (though in limited fashion in the latter three states). The leagues also combined to launch a series of lawsuits against the state of New Jersey, which has tried to legalize sportsbooks on the state level. That legal battle began in 2012 and continues to this day, with a pivotal appellate ruling in Philadelphia set to happen in the near future.
These two seemingly separate issues have converged in recent months in the public view. Many pundits and fans alike have asked why the NFL supports daily fantasy sports, yet opposes sports betting so vehemently. Like the officials in Nevada and New York, they see little different between traditional sports betting and daily fantasy sports, which involves spending money to enter DFS events which pay out prize money.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
That seems to be why the NFL has moved to stop the Ringit app. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about the issue on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in October 2015, saying, “When you are making money directly from it, people will question or at least [have a] perception of whether that influenced any actions, and we want to stay above that.“
