Total Pro Sports
Comments by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in 2017 about gambling have resurfaced, and they certainly haven’t aged well.
Earlier this week, the NFL and ESPN announced a giant agreement, with the Worldwide Leader in Sports acquiring the NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and NFL RedZone. In return, the NFL will get a 10-percent equity stake in ESPN.
Sports reporter Joon Lee pointed out something fascinating about this deal that contradicts old comments from Roger Goodell. ESPN has its own sportsbook, so the NFL will make considerable money from sports betting.
And that means Goodell’s 2017 comments about gambling have aged like milk:
“We still strongly oppose legalized sports gambling. The integrity of our game is No. 1. We will not compromise on that.”
The NFL will own 10% of ESPN, which licenses its name to a sportsbook.
The NFL will directly profit from sports gambling.
Goodell said in 2017, “We still strongly oppose legalized sports gambling. The integrity of our game is No. 1. We will not compromise on that.” https://t.co/JpyG6PN6nM
— Joon Lee (@joonlee) August 6, 2025
And as NFL aggregator Dov Kleiman puts it, “Money talks, bull sh*t walks.”
Yikes: The NFL will directly profit from sports gambling.
The National Football League will own 10% of ESPN, which licenses its name to a sportsbook.
Goodell back in 2017:
“We still strongly oppose legalized sports gambling. The integrity of our game is No. 1. We will not… pic.twitter.com/fIlkheZ5Mj
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) August 8, 2025
From 1992 to 2018, sports betting was widely prohibited in most parts of the United States under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA). In May 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the act, arguing that it violated the nation’s Tenth Amendment.
39 states have since legalized sports betting. The NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB all have partnerships with top U.S. sportsbooks, too.
At the end of the day, Roger Goodell’s job is to make as much money as possible. Goodell and NFL owners may have been against gambling for the longest time, but it’s hard to say no when billions of dollars are at stake.
The NFL may profit significantly from gambling now, but there are still strict rules in place that prohibit players from participating in the activity. Then-Atlanta Falcons star wide receiver Calvin Ridley was suspended for the entire 2022 season for violating the league’s gambling policy.
In 2023, a group of players headlined by Detroit Lions star wideout Jameson Williams were suspended for betting on NFL games. Williams was initially suspended six games, but the NFL reduced it to four.
