Statement of
Jeffrey Pash
Executive Vice President
National Football League
before the
Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism
and Government Information
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
March 23, 1999
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee. My name is Jeffrey Pash. I am the Executive Vice-President and General Counsel of the National Football League. I testified before you in 1997 in support of your prior bill on this matter and am again pleased to appear before you today to express the NFL's strong support for the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999. We strongly support this bill because it would strengthen and extend existing prohibitions on Internet gambling, including gambling on sports events, and provide enhanced enforcement tools tailored to the unique issues presented by Internet gambling. We join the State Attorneys General who testified earlier and other sports organizations in urging adoption of this important legislation.
The NFL's policy on these issues has been consistent for decades. Simply put, gambling and sports do not mix. Sports gambling threatens the integrity of our games and all the values our games represent-especially to young people. For this reason, the NFL has established strict policies relative to gambling in general and sports betting in particular. The League prohibits NFL club owners, coaches, players and anyone else connected with the NFL from gambling on NFL games or associating in any way with persons involved in gambling. Anyone who does so faces severe disciplinary action by the Commissioner, including lifetime suspension. We have posted our anti-gambling rules in every stadium locker room and have shared those rules with every player and every other individual associated with the NFL.
The League has also sought to limit references to sorts betting or gambling that in any way are connected to our games. For example, we have informed the major television networks that we regard sports gambling commercials and the dissemination of wagering information as inappropriate and unacceptable during football game telecasts. NFL teams may not accept advertising from gambling establishments.
Commissioner Tagliabue reemphasized this January that gambling and participation in the NFL are incompatible. Ina memorandum to all NFL clubs, the Commissioner confirmed that no NFL club owner, officer or employee may own any interest in any gambling casino, whether or not the casino operates a "sports book" or otherwise accepts wagering on sports. The Commissioner specifically stated that no club owner, officer or employee "may own, directly or indirectly, or operate any 'on-line,' computer-based, telephone, or Internet gambling service, whether or not such a service accepts wagering on sports."
The League also has been an active proponent of federal efforts to combat sport gambling. We strongly supported the passage of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (28 U.S.C. 3701 et seq.). This 1992 legislation, known as PASPA, halted the spread of sports gambling by prohibiting states from enacting new legislation legalizing sports betting. The League also worked to promote the passage of the Chairman's Internet gambling legislation in the last Congress. Like PASPA, the proposed legislation is a logical and appropriate extension of existing Federal law and policy. The precedents for feder