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Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo says he feels like the NFL embracing gambling makes football feel “less pure” than in the years before it happened.
The subject came up, naturally, because Super Bowl LVIII is being held in Las Vegas this week and Romo will be broadcasting the game alongside Jim Nantz for CBS.
Richard Deitsch of The Athletic asked Romo, Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson how they would feel if at some point down the road they were asked to talk about gambling information on the air?
“To me, it’s like a slippery slope,” Tony Romo replied.
“I grew up where we never talked about or thought about lines or anything like that in football. The angle that I try to communicate to the audience is how to win this game for this team, or not to lose it in some cases.
“But once you start going into that world, it strikes me as you’ve got to be great at two things. Now you’re affecting people’s lives with what you’re saying in some way. It just makes it feel less pure and less like the stuff that you grew up on.”
Jim Nantz, on the other hand, points out that other sports are already doing it.
“It’s already out there,” he said. “It’s already happening in some golf broadcasts. Thankfully, not ours. I cringe. But I think the broadcasters that have had to do it so far, they don’t have a say in that.
“It’s a revenue source for the companies that employ them, and I believe it will be much more widespread with each passing year.”
Nantz also thinks that broadcasters discussing gambling information will become commonplace in sports broadcasts sometime in the next 2-1/2 years.
As for whether they will be laying down any bets of their own in Sin City this week, Nantz said, “If I’m feeling like 17 is about to come up on the roulette board, I might throw down a few bucks.”
Romo also admitted, “Me and my wife, we love it. It is an enjoyable time … if you win.”