We’ve put some policies in place to limit the amount of advertising for sports betting that happens in our live games.
The big game is now just ten days away and speculations about the contents of the upcoming Super Bowl broadcast continue to circle.
In a recent press conference held on Tuesday, NFL dispersed any speculations in regards to sports betting ads that will be aired during Super Bowl, making it clear that a total of three US sports betting ads will be shown, one just before the game, and two during the game itself.
This information was confirmed by David Highill, NFL’s General Manager of Sports Betting. NFL’s spokesperson Alex Riethmiller made it clear that this number is below the sports betting ads limit, and will amount to approximately 5% of all advertising during Super Bowl.
In the words of Highill: “We’ve put some policies in place to limit the amount of advertising for sports betting that happens in our live games. It’s roughly one ad per quarter. All told, less than 5% of all in-game ads are sports betting ads.”
NFL and Sports Industry Stand for Responsible Gambling
According to cdcgaming.com recent online forum about the upcoming Super Bowl, the first to be played in Las Vegas, had NFL representatives and leaders of problem gambling treatment groups discuss potential risks and solutions.
Back when online gambling in the US was still being debated, NFL was one of the sports leagues that did not support legalization, suggesting that such a move would undermine the way fans see the League and its integrity.
Now that sports betting is legal in 38 states, NFL is aware that they must do their best to maintain public confidence by limiting the amount of sports betting ads and their impact on the NFL fans.
According to a 2019 survey conducted by the NFL, a growing number of fans likes and participates in legal sports betting, while a decreasing number of fans do not. The League did not provide the exact stats on this, but it is clear that the public opinion among the NFL fans is shifting in favour of sports betting.
According to Highill, the NFL can limit the negative impacts of sports betting by “being mindful of the tenor, volume, and saturation of sports betting advertising and the degree with which we’re integrating that into the live game.”
Back in 2021, the Head of American Gaming Association Bill Miller said that the level of sports betting ads was becoming an unsustainable arms race. In April last year, NFL joined a number of other sporting organisations and media companies in creating an alliance to ensure that all sports betting ads are placed in a responsible manner and with special attention to minors.
Highill also emphasized that NFL does not control the contents of gambling ads that run across other sporting events and TV and radio networks, but that the league is often blamed even for ads that are completely outside of their control.
NFL’s Jeff Miller added that NFL spent significant resources to ensure the league’s integrity is beyond reproach. He highlighted the various integrity measures put into place, as well as the training of League’s 17,000 personnel on all gambling related activities, and the partnerships with data analytics and monitoring agencies to track any rule violations.
National Council on Problem Gambling’s Executive Director Keith Whyte added that NFL’s $6.2 million donation from 2021 has helped expand the gambling treatment programs and helped hundreds of thousands reach out to the Council via the 1-800-GAMBLER help line.
As the Super Bowl approaches, the NFL continues working diligently to ensure the ad space only offers sports betting ads in limited capacity and that the language of the ads does not target minors or other at-risk groups in any way.
