The NFL issued a memo on Thursday to remind teams that certain prop bets remain prohibited under longstanding league rules amid growing turmoil surrounding sports gambling.
This memo was meant to inform teams about the regulations surrounding prop bets in the NFL, with the league writing that it has “actively engaged with both state lawmakers and regulators, as well as with our sports betting partners, to limit — and where possible prohibited altogether — prop bets in the NFL,” according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Prop bets are wagers on specific events within a game that don’t directly relate to the final score.
Generally, gamblers will place prop bets on the statistics of a particular player, a specific play outcome, or whether a team will achieve a goal that is unrelated to the game’s final result.
The NFL specified that certain prop bets, such as those that are “100% determinable by one person in one play,” have been outlawed by both the league and sports betting partners.
“From the earliest days of legal sports betting, we have recognized the particular risks associated with prop bets and the corrosive effect they have on fan perceptions, league reputation, and the safety of players, club staff, and game officials,” continues the memo, per Pelissero.
This memo comes as multiple professional sports leagues have dealt with issues of gambling in recent months, with both the NBA and MLB having players arrested for allegedly skewing the outcome of games.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera, were recently indicted for allegedly fixing pitches to help others profit.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that both pitchers intentionally threw certain pitches to help cash prop bets placed by colleagues, with both players receiving some kickback as a reward.
Additionally, the NBA recently dealt with a similar issue.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested in October for allegedly informing his friends about a fake injury, prompting those close to him to place bets that he would collect fewer statistics for a specific game, as reported by DX.
Portland Trailblazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups was also arrested on the same day due to gambling allegations, though it remains unclear whether he participated in the rigging of any games.