In November 2022 Brentford FC striker Ivan Toney scored the winning goal against Manchester City in his team’s last Premier League game before the Qatar World Cup.
Toney had been in fine form for months and should, under usual circumstances, have been meeting up with his international teammates to represent England at soccer’s showpiece event.
These weren’t usual circumstances though as news headlines had recently revealed that Toney was under investigation for a series of alleged betting offences. With those charges hanging over his head, Gareth Southgate and the FA chose to leave Toney at home during the tournament.
Last month those charges were proved and Toney was banned from all soccer activity for 11 months. The irony of a man struggling with a gambling addiction, playing in a jersey sponsored by a gambling company in a league with enormous gambling sponsorship deals has not been lost on many over the pond in England.
Whilst that incident has taken place abroad and in different sport, it has put the topic of gambling and professional sports under the microscope here in the United States. What are the chances of a similar incident happening here? Do players keep an eye on the NFL odds? What is the league’s official position on betting? Read on to find out.
The NFL’s Ivan Toney
In a couple of months’ time this article might need a different introduction as it recently came to light that Indianapolis Colts cornerback Isaiah Rodgers is being probed by the National Football League for alleged violations to the league’s gambling policy.
The 25-year-old allegedly opened a sportsbook account under the name of a friend and made around 100 bets, with some alleged to have been placed on his own team. If found guilty, it looks likely that he will face a lengthy ban, potentially for the entirety of next season.
That’s based on the precedent set when the league suspended Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley for a season following similar breaches to the league’s NFL betting policy.
(The Indianapolis Colts will be without Isaiah Rodgers for some time if he is found guilty of breaching NFL betting policy.)
What is the League’s Official Betting Policy?
NFL personnel, including league office employees, team employees, players, owners, coaches, trainers, officials, security and stadium workers are prohibited from “placing, soliciting, or facilitating any bet, whether directly or through a third party” on any NFL game, practice or other league event, such as the draft or combine.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down PASPA in 2018 the league amended their betting policy to allow players and officials to bet on other sports, so long as the bets were not placed from league and team facilities.
Prior to that there was a blanket ban on NFL players and officials from placing sports bets of any kind.
Do Players Pay Attention to NFL Odds?
Yes. They are human, like you and me and that means that from time to time they look at the betting odds, whether that is for particular games, outrights or individual accolades.
Naturally when asked by the media they will say that they don’t, much in the same way that they claim to never look at social media or news headlines before referencing the same negative headlines months later in moments of triumph.
That’s not to say that every player is actively betting on the NFL, but common sense would dictate that more than just the one or two notable examples who have been caught are having the occasional bet on the football action.
What is the League Doing to Help Players?
One of the most obvious contradictions regarding gambling and the NFL is the constant exposure to it that players and staff are subjected to. In the years from 2019-2022 sports betting deals in the NFL more than quadrupled.
Sports betting is now one of the major revenue streams for the league and teams, with more than 25 franchises having at least one sports betting or daily fantasy sponsor. It’s only natural then that the players who are subjected to this advertising on a daily basis are going to be tempted to have a bet themselves.
To counter this the NFL provides annual training on its gambling policy to all players, coaches and staff employed by all 32 teams, claiming to educate more than 17,000 people a year. The majority of this training though is aimed at educating players about the league’s policies rather than specific issues such as gambling addiction.
If the league continues with this approach, attempting to warn players off betting rather than educating them about it, we are likely to see more cases like Isaiah Rodgers’ in the coming years.
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