The National Football League will allow teams to accept advertising from casinos during the next two years. A memo sent to all 32 teams 4/12 and seen by Bloomberg News said franchises could sell ads in game-day programs, on club-controlled radio and in stadiums. The casinos must be in a team’s market. Under the altered policy, advertisers can’t take bets on any sports other than horse and dog racing. However, teams are currently able to sell ads to horse and dog-racing tracks, municipal lotteries and off-track betting organizations that don’t take wagers on sporting events.
“We remain steadfast in our opposition to the proliferation of gambling on NFL games,” Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL, told Bloomberg. “There is a distinction between accepting advertising in a limited fashion and gambling on the outcome of our games.”
Other state-licensed gambling establishments will also be able to buy ads, the memo said. Players, coaches and other team and league employees are not allowed to appear in any of the ads or endorse the entities or their products.
