NFL Players Suspended For Gambling 2023

NFL gambling policy 2023 states no personnel in the NFL is allowed to place, solicit, or facilitate bets in any manner. 

“All NFL Personnel are prohibited from placing, soliciting, or facilitating any bet, whether directly or indirectly through a third-party, on any NFL game, practice or other event. This includes betting on game outcome, statistics, score, performance of any individual 
participant, or any other kind of ‘proposition bet’ on which wagering is offered”.

In the case of the NFL players, they are given the green light to participate in legal betting on any sport apart from football but should not be done from the league and team facilities.

However, the situation remains the same for NFL personnel as they are prohibited from any kind of betting on any sport. The policy states that NFL personnel can not engage in any sort of betting even if it’s legal.

They are barred from:

• Betting on Football
• Betting on other sports
• Game Fixing
• Best Effort (not giving their best effort or asking anyone else to do so for gambling purposes)
• Providing Inside Information and Tipping
• Gambling in the Workplace
• Sportsbooks (NFL personnel should not have any connection with Sportsbook during the season.
• Not allowed to endorse or promote any gambling enterprises
• Can not accept gifts valued more than $250 from any gambling entity
• Should not have any association with a sports gambler.

NFL players suspended for gambling were a total of five players from teams Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders in April 2023 for their involvement in betting the previous season. 

From Detroit Lions, the athletes were Stanley Berryhill, Jameson Williams, Quintez Cephus, and C.J. Moore, and from Washington Commanders, it was Shaka Toney. 

Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williams are suspended for six games, meaning they will not feature in the first six matches of the 2023 season. They had placed bets on other sports which is legal but did so inside a league facility.

NFL players banned for gambling indefinitely are Quintez Cephus, C.J. Moore, and Shaka Toney. The three violators will miss the entire season and will be eligible for reinstatement after the end of the season.

Detroit Lions have already released Cephus and Moore from the team. 

Players to have been suspended or banned due to betting/gambling:

• Alex Karras – 1963
• Paul Hornung – 1963
• Art Schlichter – 1983
• Josh Shaw – 2019
• Calvin Ridley – 2022
• Stanley Berryhill – 2023
• Jameson Williams – 2023
• Quintez Cephus – 2023
• C.J. Moore – 2023
• Shaka Toney – 2023

YES! The NFL players can bet on any other sport barring football (NFL games). The activity must be carried out outside of the team and league facilities which includes practice venues as well.

The players have the luxury to engage in betting on other sports such as NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, etc. from which the personnel are barred.

The players if found guilty will be disciplined for any involvement in betting or gambling on NFL games and may serve a suspension, fines, penalties, termination, or a complete ban from the NFL for life.

NFL gambling sites where you can bet on NFL games legally are BetMGM, FanDeul, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, BetRivers, bet365, PointsBet, and WynnBet.

Betting has seen a rise in popularity in recent years, all thanks to the Supreme Court.

In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court found PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act) unconstitutional as it prohibited states from legalizing betting and gambling on sports, both professional and college, and ruled out a hearing which allowed state-by-state betting to be legalized.

States Where You Can Legally Engage in Online Betting:

• Arizona
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• District of Columbia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New York
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wyoming

States where only In-person betting is legal:

• Delaware
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• South Dakota
• Maryland
• New Mexico
• Washington
• Wisconsin

NFL Gambling partnership on April 15, 2021, announced that they will have their first-ever Sportsbook partnership with Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings, and FanDuel as their Official Sports Betting Partners. 

The trio has signed a multi-year deal with the NFL that allows them to engage in online betting keeping in mind the rules and regulations surrounding it.

The deal ensures that the trio has the exclusive rights to use the NFL’s mark in the sports betting category. In addition, they will also have the right to promote their products through NFL media properties such as NFL.com and NFL App.

On August 30, the NFL announced that they will have FOX Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet, and WynnBET as their Approved Sportsbook Operators after they reached an agreement for the 2021 season.

Fantasy Football is not considered gambling by the law.

However, the question regarding whether is gambling or not also varies from one person to another despite what the law says, since some do it out of sheer passion and fun and some do it to actually earn money by placing bets on the scores of the teams in a given week.

Fantasy Football is a game where a person with game knowledge and understanding picks a set of players on a given week to earn the highest points based on the player’s performance in real-life.

How Is Fantasy Football Legal?

Fantasy Football is legal as it is a game of skill and knowledge and does not depend on chance or luck (betting).

They have to keep in mind the player’s performances, injuries, form, home or away games, opposition, and so on before selecting their best set in the team and competing with others. 

This surely doesn’t qualify as chance or luck but is a skill that they apply while playing and is different from sports betting which puts the case of whether “Fantasy Football is considered gambling” to rest.