The NFL’s complicated relationship with sports wagering is about to get more complicated.
The league office is looking for a V.P. of sports betting, reports Brad Allen of LegalSportsReport.com, via Sports Business Daily.
The job description, per the report, focuses on four primary duties: (1) continuing to protect the integrity of the game; (2) advancing the NFL’s brand and reputation; (3) driving fan engagement globally; and (4) growing the value of the NFL’s data and intellectual property.
That last part is a fancy way of saying “maximize the revenue” related to gambling. And there’s plenty of revenue to be maximized.
But it’s a delicate balance. As the league identifies strategies for raking in more cash, the league will need to be willing to spend more money in order to ensure that temptations associated with legalized gambling don’t and won’t hurt the game’s integrity. And for a league that has a reputation for reacting to embarrassing situations, the league needs to be much more proactive when it comes to the potential pitfalls of sports betting.
That will be the task of the V.P. of sports betting, and it would be wise for the league to consider hiring someone directly from the gambling industry, someone who knows the dark underbelly of wagering and who can keep it from hurting the league as it tries to capitalize on a potentially huge revenue stream.
