Roger Goodell Outlines Four Core Principles The NFL Wants From Congress After Legalizing Sports Betting

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If you’ve been locked yourself in a bomb shelter for the past week to avoid Royal Wedding coverage, something actually monumental occured last Monday. The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of individual states legalizing sports betting, effectively overturning the federal ban on sports gambling.

Professional sports leagues have largely shot down the prospect of legalized sports betting in the past, as they believed it would undermine the integrity of the sport.

Earlier today, NFL commish Roger Goodell echoed his desire to maintain the integrity of his league while detailing four core principles aimed at Congress to enact on states that choose to legalize sports betting. Check out the full statement below.

Via the NFL:

“We are asking Congress to enact uniform standards for states that choose to legalize sports betting that include, at a minimum, four core principles:

1. There must be substantial consumer protections;
2. Sports leagues can protect our content and intellectual property from those who attempt to steal or misuse it;
3. Fans will have access to official, reliable league data; and
4. Law enforcement will have the resources, monitoring and enforcement tools necessary to protect our fans and penalize bad actors here at home and abroad.”

All Goodell’s requests seem reasonable, but #2 looks to resemble interests of the NBA and MLB, who have pushed the idea of a 1% sports “integrity fee,” which would be taken out of all sports bets before the government gets to tax bets. Goodell’s intellectual property principle could anger sportsbooks with a desire to own play-by-play data and statistics that consumers bet on.

As AGA senior vice president of public affairs Sara Slane told USA Today, this is a big ask from professional leagues as the average sports book keeps only about 5% of the money wagered and a 1% fee off the top could make legalized sports betting non-viable.