Previously, the NFL had plenty to say about its opposition to efforts by New Jersey to legalize sports wagering. With the Supreme Court agreeing to take up the question of whether New Jersey’s attack on the federal law prohibiting the expansion of betting on football games and other sporting events, the NFL has nothing to say.
The league has declined comment regarding the development, which puts the controversy on the docket for the next Supreme Court term commencing in October.
The NFL currently is tiptoeing through a minefield of hypocrisy when it comes to gambling, given the decision to allow the Raiders to eventually move to Las Vegas. Despite insistence by the Commissioner that the league continues to oppose betting on games, more and more people connected to the league believe that the legalization of wagering is inevitable -- and that the NFL can make billions in profit from it.
The first step toward widespread gambling will be the elimination of the federal law that prevents states from adopting sports wagering. That could happen either in the Supreme Court, or through the legislative process.