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<< Bengals re-sign TE Coats
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Bengals re-signed tight end Daniel Coats on Wednesday. Coats has spent all three of his NFL seasons with the Bengals. Last year, he posted 16 catches for 150 yards in 16 games. Primaril

<< Clark named director of player relations for MLBPA
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former MLB veteran Tony Clark has been hired by the MLBPA as director of player relations. A 15-year-veteran who retired during the 2009 season, Clark was a club player representative for the Red Sox and

<< Syracuse, Michigan headline 2010 Legends Classic lineup
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse, Michigan, Georgia Tech and UTEP have been announced as participants for the 2010 Legends Classic next November. The early season tournament will maintain the same format, with 12

<< Titans add LB Witherspoon
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tennessee Titans agreed to terms on a multi-year contract with Will Witherspoon on Wednesday. Witherspoon started last season with St. Louis, but was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in Oct

<< Pistons' Stuckey cleared for exercise
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -The Detroit Pistons say three doctors have cleared Rodney Stuckey for exercise after a heart evaluation.Stuckey collapsed on the bench during Friday's game at Cleveland and was taken away on a stretcher. He missed Sunday's

Roughriders extend QB Durant >>
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders have signed quarterback Darian Durant, the team announced Wednesday. Last season with Saskatchewan, Durant completed 339-of-561 passes for 4,348 yards and 24 touchdowns, w

Mattingly, Dodgers have talked about manager's job >>
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -On his first day as Dodgers interim manager, hitting coach Don Mattingly said Wednesday the team has made overtures about him eventually becoming Joe Torre's permanent replacement.With Torre en route to Taiwan to manage a Dodge

G'Town crushes South Florida to advance in Big East tourney >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Greg Monroe finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, as No. 22 Georgetown defeated South Florida, 69-49, in the second round of the Big East Tournament. Jason Clark sank four three-pointers and finishe

Chiefs sign DT Shaun Smith >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs announced Wednesday the signing of defensive tackle Shaun Smith. Terms of the deal were not released. Smith appeared in only three games for the Bengals last season and recorded

Redskins sign T Kemoeatu >>
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins have signed nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu, the team announced Wednesday. Kemoeatu, 31, spent the entire 2009 season on the Carolina Panthers' injured reserve after suffering a torn

SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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