Tony Romo Criticized the League for Taking So Long, Then Called Their Ban a “Scare Tactic”
Last week, the NFL cancelled the National Fantasy Football Convention, a fantasy football convention backed by Tony Romo. The event was supposed to take place at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas, which is located adjacent to the Venetian casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Because the case involves fantasy football sports betting and the Las Vegas Strip, a review of what happened and the league’s motives might be important. Since the NFL is currently in court trying to impede the spread of sports betting in the United States, it is interesting to see how the Tony Rome case connects to the Monmouth Park-PASPA lawsuit, which is set to have a decision on June 25.
No Romo at the Sands Expo
When Roger Goddell banned Tony Romo from appearing at the Sands Expo last week, his handling of the case garnered a new round of criticism from fans and media alike. The NFL released a statement on the ban, saying active players “may not participate in promotional activities or other appearances at or in connection with events that are held at or sponsored by casinos.”
In an interview since then, Romo appeared on the Colin Cowherd radio show and called the ban a “scare tactic“. Romo did not stop there.
He added, “They [Goodell] talk about how no players or NFL personnel are to be associated [with casinos], well, I’m like, that doesn’t really make sense. There’s just far too many cases and it does make it sound sometimes that it’s an issue about money, which is disappointing because we were just trying to get the fans to hang out with players.”
PASPA Lawsuit
If Tony Romo were reading about the NFL’s lawsuit against New Jersey and Monmouth Park, he would not be surprised at the NFL’s apparent hypocrisy. As the New Jersey sports betting case over PASPA violations have shown, the NFL’s stance on sports gambling is inconsistent, if not hypocritical.
Those who want to criticize Roger Goddell were given more ammunition, as he appears to be micromanaging player affairs once more, while continuing his rocky, inconsistent reign as league commissioner. But the Tony Romo incident goes further than that, and hints at what kind of game the National Football League might be playing.
The NFL’s Motive
The various sports leagues’ action make no sense, if you think they are just trying to block sports betting in a culture increasingly-obsessed with sports and with gambling. Once you realize they are protecting their own business–their potential money streams–the decision to cancel the appearance makes perfect sense.
Adam Silver’s stance on sportsbooks makes that clear. Silver supports the lawsuit against New Jersey and Monmouth Park, while saying he supports increased sports betting in general. He has a couple of big caveats. One, he wants federal regulation, so it’s a 50-state solution (good luck with that). Two, he wants the NBA to emulate the English Premier League, and receive a significant portion of the windfall from organized and regulated sports betting.
Show Me the Money
The NFL is doing the same thing here: it is spiking the competition. Roger Goodell and his fellow sports executives realize the huge potential revenues which betting on sports represent. They are not going to sanction it until they can find a way to take a significant percentage of those revenues. Thus, they obstruct the expansion of gambling in 46 other states, claiming sports betting in New Jersey would harm the integrity of the sports.
No one seems to buy the idea that sports betting in Nevada is good, while sports betting in New Jersey would harm the integrity of the sport. That makes no sense at face value. The only people who seem to think that logic makes sense are the NFL’s lawyers, who are paid to agree, and the federal judges who keep ruling on the NFL’s behalf. The judges are simply upholding the PASPA law–not saying the law is logical. Quite simply, it isn’t.
A quick review of the Tony Romo incident might be needed, so let’s discuss what Tony Romo did and how the NFL reacted.
How the Event Happened
The fantasy football event was planned for months. Tony Romo had arranged to have up to 100 NFL players involved in the event, which would have celebrated the hobby of fantasy football.
Tony Romo’s people had made his upcoming appearance known to the league in early March 2015. The league had over 3 months to respond, yet it waited until the event was planned and Romo had organized a huge assortment of players. Then Roger Goodell informed Romo he was barred from attending. Tony Romo, fellow Dallas Cowboys star Dez Bryant, and New York Jets receiver Brandon Marshall all expressed anger at how the NFL Front Office handled the case. Brandon Marshall, for his part, was set to attend a similar event in Las Vegas next month.
ESPN’s Defense
Dave Purdum of ESPN defended the NFL and criticized the players. Of course, ESPN has a billion-dollar TV contract with the National Football League for the Monday Night Football broadcasts. During the season, its broadcasters seek access to the NFL’s players, coaches, and front office personnel. Thus, ESPN has reasons to side with the NFL, but the sports channel also makes some valid points.
Purdum points out that the NFL is not anti-gambling, but it is anti-sports betting. Of course, when you’re talking about a sports organization’s stance on gambling, you might as well be talking about the same thing. Dave Purdum also points out that the NFL does not view fantasy sports, whether it is yearly or daily, to be sports betting.
Also, he mentioned that the NFL is against expanded sports betting–that is, expanding beyond the 4 states in which it is legal. Purdem also wisely notes that 95% of sports betting is done in unregulated environments in the United States, thus opening the door for organized crime to have a vast influence on the illegal bookmakers. He notes that the league’s stance is therefore illogical.
Marc Meltzer on the Cancellation
Marc Meltzer, a Las Vegas gaming writer, spoke to ESPN Chalk about the cancellation of the National Fantasy Football Convention. He said “There was no awareness. Nobody was talking about it.”
Meltzer’s information appears to indicate that the Tony Romo fantasy football convention appears to have caught the NFL Front Office by surprise. Tony Romo’s people told the Dallas sports media that Romo informed the league of the situation 2 and 1/2 months ago. If Romo is to be believed, then this seems to be yet another case where Roger Goodell’s staff seemed to bury important information.
When the Ray Rice case happened, Roger Goodell said the videotape inside the elevator leaked by TMZ had never been shown to him. Then a New Jersey investigator showed that he had sent a tape to the league 5 or 6 months prior to the TMZ leak. This made Roger Goodell look as if he’s either incompetent or disingenuous, a perception which several press conferences and high-profile cases have never changed. It is a mark against the league when no one is surprised when the NFL is saying they did not know about a convention which was filed with them months ago.
