NFL owners vote to allow sportsbooks in stadiums on game days: Sources

Sep 11, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; The BetMGM Sportsbook opened for business during the season opener between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Arizona Cardinals on the Great Lawn outside of State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic
By Daniel Kaplan
Mar 28, 2023

NFL owners voted to allow physical sportsbooks to operate on game days starting with the 2023 season, league sources told The Athletic. The vote occurred Monday at the NFL owners’ meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz. Here’s what you need to know:

  • In reality, many fans gamble on their mobile devices, so betting on game days in-stadium was already occurring in those states where it is legal.
  • Revenue from the sportsbooks will not be shared with other teams up until a certain threshold, believed to be around $20 million, and then pooled with the other 31 clubs for any money that exceeds that bar.
  • The move is the latest sign of the NFL’s growing embrace of legalized sports gambling.
  • The Washington Commanders are the only team with a brick-and-mortar sportsbook in their stadium, though the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Giants and Jets have ones outside their venues.

Which teams are affected?

The shift affects only the teams in states with legalized sports gambling. Slightly more than 33 states and Washington, D.C. allow sports betting, encompassing roughly 17 NFL franchises. The biggest states not yet in are Texas, Florida and California, which have eight NFL teams, more than half of the league’s clubs whose jurisdictions do not allow sports betting.

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Teams have long shared local gate revenue, but not other types of non-national revenues such as club sponsorships. Sportsbook revenues, because betting is wagered on not just the home team, are viewed within the NFL as a category that should be shared. And there is an equity concern that teams in non-legal states would be at a disadvantage.

However, sportsbook revenue is not exactly gate receipts, so the solution is to let the local teams keep a certain amount before hitting a cap with the remainder shared with the rest of the league. Revenue from sports book sponsorships, which many teams currently have, will not be shared.

Backstory

The vote underscores the NFL’s move toward accepting this new reality of American consumer society. The Supreme Court lifted the ban on sports gambling in most of the country in 2018. Previously the NFL had vociferously opposed the proposition, and even in 2015 disallowed Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo from attending a fantasy sports convention in Las Vegas because it was next to a casino.

Now the NFL stages events in Las Vegas, including next year’s Super Bowl.

(Photo: Rob Schumacher / Arizona Republic via USA Today)

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