No national broadcaster on any of the major TV networks airing National Football League games has mentioned anything relating to sports gambling. The fact that the U.S. Supreme Court in May removed the federal ban on sports wagering has not changed the policies of any NFL telecasts, be it Fox Sports, CBS, NBC, ESPN or the NFL Network.
Sporting News last week quoted unnamed sources who confirmed a moratorium on sports betting information in game broadcasts or any of the pregame shows such as Fox NFL Sunday, The NFL Today on CBS, NBC’s Football Night in America, and ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown.
Fox Sports Executive Producer John Entz confirmed the ban on sports-betting information to the publication. “To this point, gambling on any sport has not been a topic for our announcers live during games, and I don’t expect that to change much this NFL season,” Entz said in a statement to Sporting News.
In short, don’t expect Terry Bradshaw or Bill Cowher to report how your favorite NFL team performed against the spread.
But the NBA has other ideas. In the first measure of its agreement with MGM, the NBA is offering $1 million to anyone who predicts the correct over/unders for total victories over the season. The odds against that happening are astronomical, but it demonstrates the acceptance of sports betting by the NBA.
There is no cost to enter the contest but it likely demonstrates the NBA getting comfortable with traditional betting models.
