NFL Themed Slots Arriving in Casinos This September as League Tries to Navigate Through Legal Gambling
The National Football League (NFL) continues to punish players for violating its convoluted gambling policy as it finds more ways to benefit from the industry.
This September, Aristocrat unveils NFL-themed slot machines on casino floors across the US. This marks the first time the NFL has done a casino licensing deal.
“The unveiling of the first NFL-themed slot machines represents an opportunity to bring the League closer to our fans in a new area,” said Joe Ruggiero, SVP of Consumer Products at the NFL.
“I truly believe that this could be an industry changing event for for slot machines and for casinos themselves ... pushing the boundaries, driving innovation to something that really has never been done before,” Aristocrat Gaming CEO Hector Fernandez told CNBC.
The deal was first entered into back in 2021 but the timing of the NFL slot machine launches could not have come at a worse possible time.
Around a dozen NFL players were suspended in recent months for violating NFL gambling policy and that has many folks scratching their heads.
Few are more outspoken on the subject as NBC Sports Mike Florio. He claims the NFL continues to tiptoe through a minefield of inconsistency, hypocrisy on gambling.
Among the bizarre rules imposed by the NFL, Florio asks, "Why are players allowed to gamble on sports away from work when non-players are prohibited from ever doing so?"
If the perception is strong enough to create rules regarding betting on sports other than NFL football, why are players allowed to do it at all? And if the men who play the game itself are allowed to bet on other sports, why are non-players subject to a very broad, restrictive, and aggressively (and largely quietly) enforced prohibitions of any form or fashion of gambling?
It makes no sense.
NFL players are also permitted to place non-sports wagers at legally operated casinos and horse or dog racing tracks on their personal time, including during the season. NFL Personnel are strictly prohibited from participating in or facilitating any form of illegal gambling, whether on sports or otherwise.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
