NFL embraces Las Vegas, gambling after Supreme Court ruling

-Live-streaming games behind paywalls

-Diversity in hiring and ownership

-Taylor Swift’s impact on the league

The NFL had a stringent gambling stance that has been relaxed in recent years after the Supreme Court struck down a federal law prohibiting sports gambling on 2018. The NFL sent out a memo to the teams recently warning teams and their employees about the league’s rules.

“Well, it’s our number one objective,” Goodell said. “This is true with gambling and outside of gambling, right, the integrity of our game is critical. We spend a lot of time focusing on that. Educating and making sure that all of our personnel are aware of the gambling policy.”

But the league’s biggest game is set to be played in the biggest gambling city in the world. The Raiders moved here from Oakland and have been playing near the Strip since 2020. The city has also hosted the NFL draft and two Pro Bowl games events.

“This week coming in here, we wanted to make not just the two teams, but every other club, because they’ll have representatives here, we wanted to make sure that their staffs and everyone so that they understand exactly what the policies were,” Goodell said.

Player suspensions are up and some employees have been terminated for violating the league’s gambling policy.

“They all understand the importance of it,” Goodell said. “We clarified our polices earlier this year. It was to put the importance for our players that betting on NFL games, on inside information (and) anything that would negatively have an impact on our game is definitely off limits.”

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018, which opened the door for legalized sports betting beyond Nevada.

Georgia is currently considering some sports betting legislation, but an amendment to the state’s constitution may be needed.

-Swift, who won her fourth Album of the Year Grammy award on Sunday, is dating Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce. She has attended several games this season. The NFL has seen an increase in ratings from her legend of fans called the “Swifties.”

“She knows great entertainment,” Goodell said.

The NFL doesn’t see a negative side to Swift’s impact and presence in suites, cheering on Kelce.

“I think this is just about welcoming people into the game,” Goodell said. “It’s giving people a different perspective of the game...People are talking about the game that were not talking about the game yesterday.”

Goodell wouldn’t entertain a question about a popular conspiracy theory making the rounds about Swift interjecting politics into the nation’s upcoming presidential election.

“We see two young people who are really happy together,” Goodell said.

-Goodell admitted that while the league has made progress in front office and head-coaching hiring, there is still work to do. Also, the league’s own media partner has been brought into question for lack of diversity in on-air talent and in management.

Goodell noted that 36 percent of the Denver Broncos new ownership is diverse. He also noted that between 16-18 percent of the new Washington group, which includes Earvin “Magic” Johnson, is also diverse.

-The NFL held its first-ever streaming-exclusive wildcard game when the Dolphins face the Chiefs on Jan. 13. Goodell said the game drew 23 million viewers and the average age of the audience was 10 years younger than a normal broadcast. He considered that a good sign for the league trying to lure in younger viewers for the future.

-Goodell also addressed how the league is set to move forward without Bill Belichick, who was fired by New England after the season. He was a candidate for the Falcons’ job, but the team hired Raheem Morris.

“I think he’ll be missed,” Goodell said.

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