NFL Wants the Federal Government to Crack Down on Illegal Gambling

To make its point, the NFL responded in a letter to a US congresswoman on Friday last week, looking for assistance and hoping to turn the page on illegal gambling in the country. The response comes after the Congresswoman issued her own criticism of the way the NFL had been handling its sports betting and sports integrity in general.

NFL Responds to Congresswoman’s Letter

According to the NFL’s VP of public policy and government affairs, Jonathan Nabavi, the organization is fully committed to ensuring that the integrity of the sports is protected.

This includes dealing with internal sports betting offenses as well as addressing the larger issue of illegal gambling. The NFL supposedly wrote to US Rep. Dina Titus, an already outspoken critic of illegal gambling.

Nabavi and the NFL argued in their letter to the Congresswoman that the launch of mass sports gambling has made the efforts that go into regulating and safeguarding the industry even more important.

In her original letter to the league, Titus was critical of the way that the NFL had been handling public requests for more information. According to ESPN, which did the original reporting, Titus even suggested that by steering the conversation towards illegal gambling, the organization was trying to dodge her own questions.

The Congresswoman was particularly interested in the number of ongoing gambling investigations within the league that focus on sports betting offenses. Nabavi’s response indeed focused on calling the government to arms against illegal gambling, a market that continues to operate in the United States and elsewhere.

Firmly Focused on the Illegal Gambling Market

“We believe that additional attention and resources are needed from lawmakers and law enforcement to address the illicit sports betting market, which still has the power of incumbency,” he stated in the league’s response to the Congresswoman’s letter last week. Meanwhile, the NCAA provided Titus with the answers she sought. The NCAA said that the organization had experienced 175 sports betting violations since sports betting became legal in 2018.

Charlie Baker, NCAA’s President, said that he acknowledged Titus’ concerns that if left unchecked, sports gambling can breed corruption and undermine the integrity of the events. However, both the NCAA and the NFL feel that allowing sports gambling is a force for good as it brings sports wagers into the regulated market as opposed to the illicit gambling sector that had been thriving before 2018.