CHARLESTON, W. Va. - A tear of sports gambling legalization efforts has ripped through the country in recent months. Along with the emergence of new legalized states comes the conflict between the professional sports leagues and the states themselves.
Sports gambling has the potential to generate millions of dollars in revenue for the state it’s in, but the sports they are built off of don’t receive any of that money. Now some professional leagues want a piece of that money to label it as an integrity fee.
The National Football League is no longer one of these sports leagues demanding this particular royalty. What they do want, however, is something far different.
The Mountain State has permanent sports gambling rules within their borders that impact their five sportsbooks. To counter, the NFL is proposing their own sports gambling rules to the West Virginia legislature.
The League is asking for:
- Help in order to prevent NFL employees from betting in the state.
- The NFL to have a say on the types of bets offered without the authority of a final say.
- The cooperation of West Virginia and NFL officials if the NFL’s sports betting rules are broken.
The NFL, while not currently asking for any integrity fees like the leagues, still wants to have some sway with sports betting in West Virginia. If the leagues proposal is successful then they will have slight control over some aspects of sports gambling for the Mountain State, at least in regard to professional football.
The other leagues may be content on their integrity fee proposal, but the NFL seems content to have power and control over money.