Delaware legislator calls betting lawsuit by NFL, other leagues hypocritical

Delaware legislator calls NFL suit hypocritical

WASHINGTON — Delaware’s House majority leader said Tuesday that the NFL and other leagues were engaging in “blatant hypocrisy” by suing to block sports betting in the state.

In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, obtained by The Associated Press, Democrat Rep. Peter Schwartzkopf cited a host of connections between pro sports and gambling entities. The letter was also sent to the other plaintiffs in the case: Major League Baseball, the NBA, the NHL and the NCAA.

Schwartzkopf, the lead House sponsor of legislation bringing sports betting back to Delaware, said that he respects those legislators and others who opposed it.

“What I do not respect is the blatant hypocrisy of the professional sports leagues like the NFL that have now brought a lawsuit against Delaware,” he wrote.

Among other things, Schwartzkopf mentioned:

—The annual Las Vegas Bowl college football game.

—The Maloof family, which owns both the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

—A marketing and promotional partnership between the New York Mets baseball team and casino company Harrah’s Entertainment at the Mets’ new ballpark, CitiField.

—The NHL holding its annual awards ceremony at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

—Promotion of gambling on NFL games on the Web sites of networks that broadcast the games. Schwartzkopf’s spokesman cited point spreads and game picks made on the sites.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in an e-mail that the league’s contracts with its broadcast carriers prohibit references to betting on the outcome of games during NFL telecasts.

“Our network partners know that we do not condone any NFL point spread references on other programming on the multiple platforms that they operate,” McCarthy said. “But, just as we cannot prevent newspapers or TV and radio stations in Delaware from carrying point spreads or gambling information, we cannot exercise editorial control over those other non-NFL network platforms.”

In their federal lawsuit last week, the leagues and NCAA said Delaware’s sports betting plan “would irreparably harm professional and amateur sports by fostering suspicion and skepticism that individual plays and final scores of games may have been influenced by factors other than honest athletic competition.”

In a telephone interview, Schwartzkopf told the AP: “I just had a problem with them basically coming in and trying to tell us what we can and can’t do because of their reputation. I’m a sports fan. I don’t see how this tarnishes the reputation or challenges the integrity of the sports leagues.”

Schwartzkopf said that state-sanctioned sports betting “takes the illegal component out of it, it takes the underworld out of it. It’s heavily regulated, and it’s a lot safer — you don’t have to deal with the bookie on the corner.”

“We’re in a bad financial situation,” he added. “This is just an effort by us to help pay for government services and keep the tax burden low.”

McCarthy said that the league is sensitive about interjecting itself into Delaware matters. But he maintained that the state’s plan to bet on individual games violates federal law.

Congress banned sports betting in 1992 while grandfathering in four states — Delaware, Nevada, Montana and Oregon — that had already offered it. The lawsuit argued that Delaware’s plan to allow single-game betting would violate the legislation because Delaware has never offered single-game betting before.

None of the other leagues or NCAA responded to requests for comment Tuesday.