Category Archives: Gambling

Right now, if a Campbell County resident is struggling with gambling addiction, there are very few, if any, places they can turn to for help.

Personal Frontiers, a nonprofit substance abuse treatment provider, plans to change that. This week, the organization received $45,000 from the county, which was passed down from the state, to start a program to treat gambling addiction.

In 2023, Campbell County received $45,553 in sports betting revenue from the state, which specified that the money be used for prevention and treatment of problematic gambling behavior.

Under state statute, every month, sports betting operators will send 10% of their revenue to the Wyoming Gaming Commission. Each fiscal year, the first $300,000 of this money will be appropriated to the Wyoming Department of Health. 2023 was the first year the funds were available.

In December, Campbell County sought out applications from local agencies explaining how theyd spend the money, and Personal Frontiers was the only one to apply.

Kay Guire, executive director of Personal Frontiers, said shes seen an increase in gambling addiction in the past few years, just with how accessible it is and how many gambling options are available.

Off-track betting, the Wyoming Lottery and sports betting are a few of the ways people can legally gamble in Campbell County.

She said gambling addiction often goes hand in hand with other addictions.

Our clients stop substance abuse and theyve replaced it with something else, and sometimes it is gambling, she said. And its readily available, and some people dont know how to gamble responsibly.

Locally, there are no options for people who are struggling with gambling addiction. Guire said there isnt a Gamblers Anonymous chapter in the whole state of Wyoming, and the closest one to Gillette is in a small town three hours away.

The Campbell County Prevention Council wrote a letter of support, saying that those in Gillette who struggle with gambling addiction have to travel or participate in virtual programs.

This combined with long wait times and a lack of financial resources puts a strain on families who are living with addiction, wrote Ashley McRae, a certified prevention specialist for the county.

Personal Frontiers gambling addiction program will include weekly group meetings, individual counseling and mental health sessions, Guire said, adding that she also is applying for a $45,000 grant through the National Council on Problem Gambling for this program.

Guire said employees will have to go through some training, and that the program should be ready to train in the beginning of April.

There also will be a big push to raise awareness. Guire plans to talk with the various businesses that have gambling to get posters and magnets put up, and she also wants to give presentations on the program.

I think just getting the word out is half the battle, she said.

Guire said shes very excited to get this program going. For years Personal Frontiers has helped people struggling with drug addiction. Now, its branching out and hitting another addiction that affects adults of all ages.

Right now, where are they going? Theyre not, theyre continuing to go down that road. Now, they have another avenue, another road they can possibly go down, she said. I feel very strongly that people need help. Personal Frontiers would like to be the frontier of that help.

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Personal Frontiers gets $45K to treat gambling addiction - Gillette News Record

With the Super Bowl this weekend, dont expect many pastors to place a bet on Kansas City or San Francisco to win the game, but a few may have more than a rooting interest riding on the game.

Despite its legalization across many states, US Protestant pastors remain opposed to sports gambling, but theyre not doing much about it, according to a Lifeway Research study. Few pastors (13%) favor legalizing sports betting nationwide and most (55%) say the practice is morally wrong.

Anything can happen in sports, and many Americans want the same allure of an unexpected win in sports to translate into an unexpected financial windfall, said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. Most pastors see moral hazards in sports betting and believe American society would be better off without it.

Pastoral opposition

A majority of pastors (55%) believe betting on sports is morally wrong, including 33% who strongly agree. Around a third (35%) disagree, while 10% arent sure.

While the Bible does not explicitly say, Thou shall not gamble, biblical principles regarding work and wealth indicate that gambling is unwise, said Miles Mullin, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission vice president and chief of staff. The Bible teaches that sin has a ripple effect that harms not only the participant but those around him. This seems particularly true for addictive behaviors, and gambling is no different.

Evangelical pastors (62%) are more likely than mainline pastors (50%) to see sports gambling as morally wrong. Baptist (65%) and non-denominational pastors (63%) are more likely than those at Lutheran (42%) or Presbyterian/Reformed churches (46%) to agree it is wrong.

While there is some difference of opinion over the morality of sports betting, almost all pastors agree on what the legal status should be. Few (13%) agree sports betting should be legalized across the country, including 2% who strongly agree. Three in 4 pastors (75%) oppose nationwide legalization, and 13% arent sure.

Younger pastors, those aged 1844, are the most likely to support making sports betting legal across the U.S. (20%) and the least likely to oppose those efforts (64%). White pastors (76%) are more likely to oppose legalization than Black pastors (63%). Pastors in the South (78%) and Midwest (75%) are also more likely to disagree with legalizing sports gambling nationwide than those in the West (64%).

Again, evangelical pastors are more likely to oppose gambling than their mainline counterparts, with 80% of evangelical pastors compared to 64% of mainline pastors opposing legalization across the country. Pentecostals (85%) and Baptists (83%) are more likely to disagree with legalizing sports betting than Methodist (72%), Presbyterian/Reformed (71%), Lutheran (66%) and nondenominational pastors (66%).

The overall numbers are similar to a 2018 Lifeway Research study of US Protestant pastors conducted shortly after a Supreme Court ruling opened the door for an expansion of sports gambling across the country. In late summer 2018, 59% of pastors felt sports betting was morally wrong, and 12% thought it should be legal nationwide.

Pastoral apathy

Currently, some form of sports gambling is legal in more than 30 states and Washington, DC. But few pastors see it as an issue for them or their churches to address. This demonstrates a shift from their stated intentions in 2018, a few months after sports betting became a legal possibility across the country.

In 2018, pastors were asked, If sports betting is legal or soon becomes legal in your state, which of the following will your church do? Almost 9 in 10 (88%) said they would offer counseling for those struggling with addiction and debt. Two in three (65%) said they would have private conversations to discourage participation, and 60% would offer support groups for gambling addictions. Another 42% said they would advocate for stricter laws on sports betting. And 33% planned to use sermons to discourage participation. A little more than five years ago, 5% of US Protestant pastors said they wouldnt feel the need for their church to address the issue.

Today, few of those stated ambitions have been realized, and most pastors say they dont feel like they need to do anything about sports betting. Within the last year, 44% of pastors say theyve offered counseling for those struggling with debt or addiction and 32% have used private conversations to discourage participation in sports betting. Few say they have offered support groups for gambling addiction (11%), advocated for stricter laws on sports betting (8%) or used sermons to discourage participation (7%). Most pastors (56%) now say they havent felt the need for their church to address the issue in the last year.

Asked directly about their own participation, 2% of US Protestant pastors say they have placed one or more bets on sporting events in the last year.

Pastors are still not supportive of sports betting, but their plan for responding has changed in the last six years, said McConnell. Pastors 2018 intentions were to fight to keep our culture from hurting itself by lowering a standard. Now that most states have legalized sports betting, pastors appear less interested in focusing on this behavior. Many will likely follow through on their intentions if a specific need arises, but the reality is that intentions are easier than actions.

Baptist and Methodist pastors are often the ones most likely to be involved with the issue. Baptists are among the most likely to say theyve used sermons (13%) and private conversations (39%) to discourage participation. Methodists are among the most likely to have offered support groups for gambling addiction (16%). Both Methodists (14%) and Baptists (12%) are among the most likely to say theyve advocated for stricter laws on sports betting in the past year and to say theyve offered counseling for those struggling with debt or addiction (Methodists 48%, Baptists 46%).

Pastors 65 and older (49%) are less likely than those 18 to 44 (61%) and 55 to 64 (59%) to say they havent felt the need to address sports betting. Lutherans (71%) and Presbyterian/Reformed (67%) are more likely than Methodists (53%), Baptists (47%) and Pentecostals (42%) to believe its not necessary to get involved.

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Super Bowl Gambling Grows, But Pastors Are on the Sidelines | News & Reporting - ChristianityToday.com

Super Bowl Sunday means many things this year: parties, commercials, bean dips, guacamole bowls, loving Taylor Swift, hating Taylor Swift, discussing Taylor Swift over bean dips and guacamole, several hours of football there will be some football and finally a new and significant record that almost no one is discussing. By the end of the day, according to the American Gaming Association, a record 68 million Americans will wager a stunning $23 billion on the Super Bowl and most of them will be doing it legally.

How did we get here?

Six years ago, the Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited sports gambling and effectively limited the practice to one place: Nevada. Almost overnight after the ruling, about a dozen states opened some sort of legal sportsbook and more were soon to come. Lawmakers, desperate to pad their state budgets, wanted to cash in by taxing the long-verboten business, and shiny new companies sprung up to give people what they wanted: a chance to place some action and make the game more interesting.

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Today, some form of sports gambling is legal in most states and, in many, including Massachusetts, people can place their bets from the comfort of their couches on their phones using apps provided by FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and others. In this new world, according to the ubiquitous advertisements, gambling is exciting and glamorous. People arent sitting alone in a sea of slot machines in the middle of the day. Theyre sitting alone in the blue glow of their phone screens and theyre hitting it big. The ads make it seem like that anyway. Everyone wins.

Ill be honest: I sometimes place bets on my phone, too $20 here, $10 there, and it can make the game more interesting. But it can also make it more agonizing. If I lose and I often lose Ill go to bed angry or wake up the next morning in a stew of regret. The $20 bet is like the second or third glass of wine its usually a mistake.

We dont see this side in the gambling advertisements. But there are people out there who see it every day and it can be dark. Gambling helplines across the country are overwhelmed with phone calls from people whove lost too much over the weekend, from spouses keeping secrets, from people contemplating suicide, from misguided callers who think the helpline can help them recoup their losses, from college kids whove frittered away thousands of dollars placing bets on their phones, and from their parents worried about their children losing money. Weve had an uptick in calls from parents, Felicia Grondin, the executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, told me. Theyre just looking for someone to talk to.

Grondin expects similar conversations on Monday, the day after the Super Bowl. According to data compiled by the National Council on Problem Gambling, calls to gambling helplines typically peak between noon and 4 p.m. on Mondays, and staffers say theyre always inundated after big games. People need help, and regulators are worried that those in need might soon include underage gamblers. Last fall, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission aired concerns that people under the age of 21 might be placing bets, and Lia Nower, a leading gambling expert, said she believes its already happening.

Nower, the director of the Rutgers University Center for Gambling Studies, told me that the ads on television are designed to capture the attention of both adults and children the first generation of kids to grow up with widespread legalized gambling. Studies show that kids see these advertisements on TV, Nower said. They can remember the names of the companies. It makes them want to try it. And when younger gamblers do try it, Nower said, they are more likely to make impulsive choices. Theyre not just placing bets before the game but during it.

Old-school gamblers call the practice chasing. You start to lose, so you place a different bet to hedge your losses. Then, you start to lose that bet, so you place yet another wager to climb back in. And suddenly, if youre unlucky, youre down maybe a lot of money. In an instant, Nower said.

Its something that happened many years ago to one of our most notorious gamblers: baseball legend Pete Rose. At his low point in the 1980s, according to my reporting, Rose lost as much as $30,000 a week betting on sports, and he couldnt even place bets on his cellphone. He was chasing his losses, calling bookies on a landline.

Now that its so much easier to gamble, lawmakers need to have serious conversations about what comes next. Addiction counselors argue that more money needs to be set aside to get problem gamblers the help they need. Health care providers must start screening for gambling addiction, the way they screen for problems at home with drugs, intrusive thoughts, alcohol, and guns, and experts like Nower believe regulators need to reexamine how gambling is advertised, packaged, and sold.

Its like how cigarettes were marketed in the era of the Marlboro Man, Nower said. Thats where we are with gambling right now.

Its cool. Its all the rage. Sixty-eight million people will do it this Sunday, and no one wants to talk about how it will make us feel in the morning.

Keith OBrien is a journalist and author of the forthcoming Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball.

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DraftKings, helplines, and the hidden toll of sports gambling - The Boston Globe

On Sunday in Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs will be looking to win their second straight Lombardi Trophy, while a San Francisco 49ers victory would give the team its first Super Bowl since 1995, when Steve Young was under center.

I didnt get a pass to media day, so I didnt get a chance to ask Chiefs head coach Andy Reid about how he tends to his mustache.

But my colleagues and I were able to ask an all-pro lineup of scholars to write about a range of football-related topics, from the partisan food divide to the numbers behind the biggest gambling bonanza in league history.

The Pro Bowl, the NFLs version of the all-star game, usually gets scant attention. Thats because it happens the weekend before the Super Bowl absent many of the stars playing in the big game and the players seem most concerned about avoiding injuries, not winning the game.

A year ago, league officials decided to shake up the annual showcase. It would no longer be a tackle football game. It would be a flag football match. The thinking went that if the leagues stars didnt have to tackle one another, they might play harder, be more likely to showcase their athleticism and, importantly, have more fun.

As West Virginia University sociologist Josh Woods explains, the NFLs promotion of flag football is a big deal, particularly for an emerging sport thats somewhat obscure outside of Florida, Georgia and New York, where roughly 80% of high school flag football players live. Its inclusion in the 2028 Summer Olympics will only further bolster its profile.

But Woods points to a gender divide and a political divide that could end up clouding the sports future.

Read more: Could flag football one day leapfrog tackle football in popularity?

In 2011, former NFL cornerback Sam Shields was a rookie playing for a Green Bay Packers team that had made the Super Bowl. The night before the big game, he tossed and turned.

I had stomach aches, using the bathroom, but I didnt have to use it, he told Sports Illustrated in 2019. It felt like Christmas too, when Christmas is the next day you cant sleep.

Ive wondered whether I would get a wink of shut-eye if I were scheduled to pitch in the World Series. Something tells me Id be a lot like Shields. And as if the Chiefs and 49ers players and coaches arent feeling enough pressure, it turns out that getting a good nights sleep is one of the most important things an athlete can do before a big game, meet or match.

University of Pittsburgh sleep medicine specialist Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse highlights reams of studies showing how a poor nights sleep can effect performance and decision-making while making you more likely to get injured.

In fact, she writes, Sleep deficits have been linked to decreased performance in every cognitive measure.

Read more: Sleep can give athletes an edge over competitors but few recognize how fundamental sleep is to performance

Did you bet on the 49ers to cover the spread? Perhaps youre playing squares. Or maybe youre betting on Reba McEntires national anthem to last longer than 90.5 seconds.

If youve wagered on some aspect of the big game, youre one of roughly 67 million American adults who have done the same, according to a Morning Consult survey conducted in early February. That would make another new record, shattering 2023s record, which shattered the mark from 2022. The countrys gambling mania has been aided, in part, by the Supreme Courts 2018 ruling that overturned a federal ban on sports betting.

Gambling and the Super Bowl have always gone hand in hand. To University of Iowa sports media scholar Tom Oates, what makes the developments of the past few years so remarkable is the NFLs stunning reversal on its own attitudes toward betting.

Gone are the quaint days of league officials lobbying Congress to put restrictions and guardrails in place. The NFL has gone all in on its embrace of gambling, forging billion-dollar partnerships with the countrys top sportsbooks.

But this infusion of extra cash comes with a substantial social cost, Oates writes. Gambling addictions are at an all-time high, likely spurred by the ease with which people can place bets from their phones.

So if you want to get in on the action, gamble responsibly and dont let your emotions get the best of you.

That being said, a little birdie told me that Reba can really hold her notes.

Read more: The Super Bowl gets the Vegas treatment, with 1 in 4 American adults expected to gamble on the big game

Everything is politicized, so the lament goes. And even the Super Bowl one of the few communal events left in a polarized, atomized nation cant avoid the creep of partisanship.

In recent years, some of the countrys most iconic food brands Bud Light, Goya, Papa Johns, Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A have been excoriated by partisans on both sides of the aisle.

So food spreads can color every Super Bowl party with a tinge of red team, blue team.

What you serve at your Super Bowl party, or what the host serves at the event you attend, can now be interpreted, or twisted, through a partisan lens, write political scientists Joshua J. Dyck and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz.

One possible way to bridge the divide: Unite in a bipartisan celebration of Taylor Swift. Actually, scratch that.

Maybe you could just serve salmon a food that, according to Dyck and Pearson-Merkowitzs research, is resistant to partisan cues.

Grim times, indeed.

Read more: Super Bowl party foods can deliver political bite choose wisely

According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, 22% of Americans planning to watch the Super Bowl are most excited about the commercials.

Thats one reason companies are willing to fork over so much cash for a coveted slot as much as US$7 million for a 30-second spot.

However, as Auburn University scholars Linda Ferrell and O.C. Ferrell point out, many regulars on the airwaves of the Super Bowl, such as GoDaddy and Ford, are missing from this years lineup.

What gives?

Gen Z, in particular, is not impressed by Super Bowl ads, they write, and complicating the matter is their lack of interest in broadcast TV.

So as a millennial whos spent years listening to how my generation has killed everything from paper napkins to mayonnaise, I take great pleasure in typing: Gen Z killed the Super Bowl ad.

Read more: Super Bowl ads: It's getting harder for commercials to score with consumers

This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversations archives.

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Ads, food and gambling galore 5 essential reads for the Super Bowl - The Conversation

CADILLAC Many people in Michigan could be betting on the big game, with our states fairly new sports betting laws.

An estimated $1.3 billion will be bet on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Michigan Association on Problem Gambling wants you to be aware of the apps drawing you in by giving you free money to gamble.

While they say most of the gambling will be fun and safe this weekend, they also want to remind you of any other potential problems.

Did you bet more than youd planned on betting when you started your session? And number two, and this is so critical, did you lie about it to somebody? Gambling is a hidden addiction, said Michael Burke of Michigan Association on Problem Gambling.

If you or someone you know needs help with gambling in Michigan, you can call the Michigan Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-270-7117 for 24/7 confidential crisis intervention and referral to treatment.

You can also visit the Michigan Association on Problem Gambling website here.

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Michigan Association on Problem Gambling warns of gambling problems ahead of Super Bowl - 9 & 10 News

Gov. Kay Ivey touched on many areas throughout her annual State of the State address Tuesday night, unveiling a school voucher program as her top priority.

But the unveiling of the CHOOSE Act was just a small part of Iveys address, which also touched on gambling, workforce participation, broadband, artificial intelligence, voter suppression and more.

Heres a look at what the governor had to say:

While gambling legislation has been a persistent challenge for the Legislature, there have been strong indications that this is the year a bill will move forward to give Alabamians a vote on the subject.

While the exact proposal has not been publicly revealed, Ivey said she believes it will be good for the state.

It will crack down on illegal gambling, and it will responsibly regulate limited forms of legal gaming, including a statewide lottery Ivey said. Now is the time for Alabama voters to have another say on this issue.

Ivey touted her recent announcement of $188 million in federal grant funding to expand broadband in rural areas of Alabama via the middle mile program and said Alabamas overall investment in broadband expansion would be $2 billion.

Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth recently unveiled his plans to transform the states workforce development pipeline, and Ivey touched on the states labor force participation rate during her address.

While our unemployment rate remains historically low, our labor force participation rate stands only at 57.2 percent, one of the lowest in the nation, Ivey said. Our state will not reach its full potential with nearly half of its population sitting on the sidelines. Alabama can do better, and it will take making Alabamas workforce programs more effective and efficient.

Look yall, I am not going to stand here and preach like I know a lick about AI, Ivey said to chuckles from the crowd.

In an attempt to get ahead of the growing opportunities and challenges involved with the boom of AI applications in industry and everyday life, Ivey announced the creation of a taskforce to ensure the technology is used safely and efficiently.

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Ivey addresses gambling, AI, broadband and more - Alabama Political Reporter

The Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines on Jan. 31, 2024. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

Tina Eick will lead Iowas Racing and Gaming Commission after holding the interim role since December, the commission announced Friday.

The commission named Eick the permanent administrator in a meeting on Friday, saying she stood out through a long and competitive interview process.

Nine candidates were interviewed for the position, board member Amy Burkhart said.

Throughout the feedback received and throughout that process it became very evident that we already have the person in place who is the best candidate to lead our commission forward, she said.

The Racing and Gaming Commission is tasked with regulating and overseeing casinos, horse racing and sports betting in Iowa.

Eick has worked for the commission since 2017 as director of operations. She became interim administrator in December when the previous administrator, Brian Ohorilko, left the commission to take an executive position with Prairie Meadows Casino.

Eick was paid $143,408 in 2023, according to state records. Ohorilko was paid $217,427.

Board members who spoke at the meeting Friday heaped praises onto Eick, saying she had high qualifications, a deep knowledge of the states gambling rules and regulations, and a strong work ethic.

Im honored and Im humbled by all of those comments and those kind words, and your confidence in me, Eick told the commission on Friday. And I really look forward to the challenges to come.

Gambling regulations in Iowa have come under some scrutiny with questions over an investigation into illegal sports betting against a number of Iowa college athletes. The investigation was conducted by the Division of Criminal Investigation, and not the Racing and Gaming Commission.

Ohorilko previously said his decision to leave the post was not related to the investigation, but told a parent of one student-athlete a lot of people dont agree with how the investigation was handled, according to court documents.

A leader of Teamsters Local 238 in a video posted to YouTube told union members to prepare for protest activity, including rolling strikes, over legislation introduced in the Iowa Legislature.

A bill in the Iowa Senate would require public employers to submit a list of union-eligible workers, and if the list is not submitted to the state on time, the bargaining unit would be automatically dissolved. Such an action could only be stopped by the bargaining unit filing a lawsuit to compel the employer to act.

Supporters say the bill is needed to close a loophole in state law, under which many unions have not performed required recertification laws. Critics call it a union-busting bill.

Jesse Case, principal officer for Teamsters Local 238, in the video told members to watch for information about protests and strikes.

(The bill) would effectively end all public sector unions in the state of Iowa, Case said. Well guess what were fighting back. Were not taking it. Were not going to let dark money from out of state roll into Iowa and harm hard working families across the state.

Senate Study Bill 3158 has been advanced out of subcommittee and is eligible for consideration by the full Senate Workforce Committee.

The Iowa Insurance Division announced it has joined a $1.5 million multistate settlement with TradeStation Crypto, Inc.

The agreement resolves allegations the Florida-based company violated state and federal securities regulation by offering and selling an unregistered interest-bearing crypto-lending product without the proper registration or disclosure to investors.

The settlement comes as the result of an investigation led by state securities regulators in Alabama, California, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.

Under the program, investors passively earned interest on digital assets by loaning them to TradeStation, according to a news release from the Iowa Insurance Division. The crypto platform had total discretion over the revenue-generating activities used to earn returns for investors, the release states.

Regulators also lacked access of critical information necessary to understand the potential risks of TradeStation's program.

TradeStation agreed to pay $1.5 million to 51 U.S. jurisdictions and $1.5 million to the SEC.

The company also agreed to stop offering, selling, or renewing its digital asset interest-earning program until it complies with applicable state and federal securities laws.

Whatever Iowans may be looking to invest in, its always important for them to be vigilant and protect their assets, Iowa Insurance Commissioner Doug Ommen said in a statement. Iowans can always double-check before investing to make sure an investment is properly registered with the Iowa Insurance Division by calling 877-955-1212.

Iowa's Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program Board approved more than $3.4 million in cost-sharing projects that allow Iowa fuel retailers to install E15 and other high-ethanol blend pumps.

The 73 approved projects, across 38 counties, marks a record for a single quarter, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship said in a release.

More than $5.48 million has been awarded to similar cost-sharing projects so far this year, the department said.

"Iowans are fueling their vehicles with lower cost E15 at record levels, Iowa plants are producing record volumes of ethanol, and Iowa is setting records for ethanol infrastructure investment, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig said in the release.

Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau

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Capitol Notebook: Iowa gambling commission names new administrator - The Gazette

Goodell also discussed continued efforts to improve health and safety. The NFL prioritized adjusting kickoff rules to make the play safer as it went into the 2023 season. The league saw a significant drop in the number of regular-season games missed to injury this season, but concussion numbers essentially remained stable (219 total, compared to 213 in 2022), which is below the recent high of 281 a few seasons ago. Goodell hopes to find ways to improve those numbers while also keeping the kickoff in the game.

"For me, I thought this rule was necessary for the one year because we need to innovate," Goodell said. "We need to work with our coaches and our competition committee and those across the league to find a way to keep the kickoff in the game. It's an exciting play. It's important for us. The same for punts. But when you see a higher injury rate for that play, you can't ignore that. And we haven't yet found that solution. I think we've proven over the last several years, you can make the game safer and more exciting at the same time. And that's our objective here. I'm confident we'll get to that. It's going to take a little work. This is a one-year rule, so I hope that will be a major focus this spring."

NFL playing surfaces, specifically the differences between grass and artificial-turf fields, have also become a hotly debated topic when it comes to player safety. Goodell hopes to explore a new innovation as a potential option, while asserting that finding consistency for players on a week-to-week basis is a crucial element of keeping them safe.

"This has been a major focus with the Players Association, and we have jointly worked with experts to try to study this question," Goodell said. "It's not always just grass or synthetic. We think hybrid is something to really explore. That's actually what they use in international soccer, is a hybrid type of format. Additionally, I think we've got to look at different circumstances, right? You play in a dome for four and half months, that's pretty hard to grow grass. You can sometimes take it in and out. You can find a way of trying to replace that. But we want to try to get the best possible field surfaces, and that is something that varies from market to market, climate to climate. One of the the things that we think is very important and the studies that we're doing, is consistency. And when I say consistency, it's not just on the entire playing surface, but it's consistency of what players are playing on during the week leading up to the game. What they're practicing on and what they play on. That consistency is really important, according to our engineers and our experts. So we're looking at that with the Players Association and hope we can find better solutions and continue that focus."

When asked about reports of the 49ers being displeased with their practice field for this week in Las Vegas, Goodell said that the UNLV practice facility was approved unanimously.

"That work is being done every single day," he said. "We had 23 experts out there. We had the union out there. All of them think that's a very playable surface. It's softer than what they have practiced on, but that happens. It's well within all of our testing standards. It's something that we think all our experts, as well as neutral field inspectors, have all said unanimously that it's a playable field."

Lastly, Goodell made an exciting announcement for the 2024 season: The Philadelphia Eagles are the designated team for the league's first-ever game in South America. Philly's contest in So Paulo, Brazil, will take place on Friday of Week 1, with the Eagles playing an opponent that will be revealed before the full 2024 regular-season schedule is released in the spring.

Originally posted here:

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addresses legalized gambling, officiating, player safety ahead of Super Bowl LVIII - NFL.com

This could be a crucial year for the future of sports gambling in Florida.

Lawyers for a group of gambling companies called "West Flagler Associates" filed their final brief yesterday.

They're asking the Florida Supreme Court to rule that the current sports gambling compact with the Seminoles violates the state constitution.

Voters, in 2018, passed Amendment Three, which gives voters the sole power to determine if casino gambling should be allowed in Florida.

Governor Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe reached a deal, though, that legalized online sports gambling by putting the servers on tribal land.

DeSantis' lawyers say Amendment Three doesn't apply to this case because online sports gambling is not casino gambling.

West Flagler argues that voters have the sole power to "authorize casino gambling in the state through another constitutional amendment."

Critics accuse Governor DeSantis of circumventing the constitution.

The state supreme court could decide the case by the end of the year.

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The Future of Florida's Sports Gambling on the Docket - 1290 WJNO

Locks

NBA (0.5 Unit) New Orleans Pelicans @ Minnesota Timberwolves -6.5 (-110; Odds via Caesars): 7:00 PM CT on Bally Sports North

The Wolves looked like they did some partying for New Years Eve before their Monday game against the Knicks, playing sluggish basketball for most of the game. Tonight is a good opportunity to bounce back though, which is what they always do. An impressive storyline in this Wolves season is that theyve never lost consecutive games, plus they have the NBAs best average margin and second-best ATS margin after a loss.

That might be why sharp money has been on Minnesota since this line opened, and I still like it here. The Wolves are still a strong ATS team at Target Center, theyll be motivated off Mondays loss, and are at full strength. Theyve already faced the Pelicans three times this season, with the only loss coming in a game Anthony Edwards missed, so I like them to bounce back again as they tend to do.

Bonus Bet (0.75 Unit): Pelicans/Wolves First Half Over 109.5 (-110; Odds via Caesars)

All three meetings this season have gone over this first half total with 116.7 points on average. Both of these teams score at a much higher rate in first halves than second halves, averaging several more PPG before halftime than after. The Wolves also tend to clamp down defensively after half as the leagues best second-half scoring defense, so look for this first half to clear the low total.

NBA (0.5 Unit) Milwaukee Bucks/Indiana Pacers Under 258.5 (-110; Odds via BetMGM): 6:00 PM CT on Bally Sports IN

Taking the under in a Pacers game or a Bucks game is not for the faint of heart. So when these wild offenses square off it can be really scary. But weve already seen these teams play four times this season thanks to the in-season tournament, and they just dont get to this level of scoring. Those meetings have gone 3-1 under this total with 249.5 points on average, and the one over needed a 64-point outburst from Giannis to get there.

All thats needed to fall short of a total like this is a couple of slower minutes scattered throughout the game, and there have been plenty of those in the other meetings. This is just a case of perception driving the total too high, and with Milwaukee potentially missing Khris Middleton tonight Im not seeing enough offense to reach it.

Bonus Bet (0.5 Unit) Giannis Antetokounmpo Over 56.5 Points+Rebounds+Assists (-110; Odds via DraftKings)

I might like the under, but a total this high still creates a fertile environment for player props to go over. Especially with Giannis who has dominated the Pacers this season in all facets of the game. It helps to have two games of 50-plus points against them, but the Greek Freak has also had massive outings in rebounding and assisting against Indiana, resulting in a 64.6 average on this prop. With Middleton possibly out, even more of the load will fall on his shoulders, so expect another big night from Giannis against what is still a poor defensive team.

NBA (0.5 Unit) OKC Thunder/Atlanta Hawks Over 248 (-110; Odds via Caesars): 6:30 PM CT on Bally Sports SE

On the other hand, I just cant quit overs when the Hawks are at home. Games in Atlanta this season are 10-3 to the over with the leagues highest plus/minus to the total. With the Hawks playing some of the NBAs worst defense its no wonder those games tend to erupt, and another should be coming here against one of the top offensive teams in the league.

The Thunder match up very well here as one of the best overall shooting teams, and the leagues best from beyond the arc. The Hawks are allowing visiting teams to shoot 40.4% from deep, second-highest in the league, so OKC will pile up points from downtown. But this is also a back-to-back for the Thunder after a high-scoring game last night, and theyre 3-0 to the over this season on no rest. I expect the pace to be there, and plenty of threes should drop to turn this into a high-scoring game.

NBA (0.5 Unit) Detroit Pistons @ Utah Jazz -8.5 (-110; Odds via Caesars): 8:00 PM CT on Bally Sports Detroit

I hope the Pistons enjoyed that win over the weekend, because another long losing streak is likely in the works. They wasted no time getting back to being the Pistons we all know on Monday, kicking off 2024 with a 23-point loss. Now they have to travel to Utah where the Jazz own the leagues best ATS record and top plus/minus against the number. While its strange to see the Jazz listed as such a heavy favorite, I have to back them here given their success in the Delta Center.

Within their home ATS success is a 3-0 mark as a home favorite with the leagues best average ATS margin as well, so the Jazz always seem to come through. The Pistons are losing their road games by an average 13.6 point margin, already lost at home to a shorthanded Jazz team by 8, and should be in line for another beating tonight.

No degenerates today.

Tiny Nick is 1893-1700 ATS (+84.9 Units) on his Locks since joining Zone Coverage.

Every day he will offer his Locks and Degenerate picks. Locks are the games hes confident in. Degenerates are entertaining but riskier picks.

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Tiny Nicks Gambling Picks: 01/03 - Zone Coverage