Betting Against Their Own: The Double Standard of Sports Gambling
Written by Aaron Persily | March 26, 2026
Today, sports bars have become synonymous with sports gambling. On every TV, there are DraftKings and FanDuel plastered on the screen, with commentators constantly referencing betting lines throughout the game. Sports gambling has completely changed and taken over every aspect of sports coverage. League commissioners shake hands with gambling companies, and coverage outlets promote sports gambling at every turn they can, yet the players' careers are ruined if they participate in any sports gambling. This contradiction between how leagues promote gambling while simultaneously punishing the players is often argued to be one of the largest double standards in professional sports today.
In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, thereby legalizing sports betting (Oyez, 2018). Since then, sports gambling companies across America have handled over 600 billion dollars and have become intertwined in American sports culture (Deseret News, 2026). Sports gambling often starts out as harmless fantasy football leagues with small buy-ins for everybody in the league. Next, it goes to people making a bracket pool in March Madness to get a perfect bracket. The quick hit of dopamine and the easy access to websites online have been targeting wealthier college students who can just pick up their phone and bet on any live sports. Today, the introduction of Kalshi and Polymarket has made sports gambling increasingly unregulated. These prediction markets now sponsor every sports event and are not constrained by many of the laws that traditional sports gambling companies are. Nearly all NBA teams partner with sportsbooks, and some even display betting inside the arena (Legal Sports Report, 2023). Hence, it is now impossible to consume sports without also viewing sports gambling.
Although sports leagues are earning a hefty profit from sports gambling, the players do not get the same leeway that the owners and other members of the league get. While the sports leagues get to reap the rewards of partnering with sports gambling companies, the players have a no-tolerance policy when it comes to participating. In the NFL, gambling is not even part of the CBA; it is simply at the commissioner's arbitrary discretion, and he has unchecked control over it. Moreover, since it is strictly up to the NFL commissioner, the players have zero say in how sports gambling policies operate. These players are forced to play in stadiums filled with advertisements about sports gambling sites and listen to top officials in the league promote gambling. Yet, they get punished for participating in gambling.
It must be said that athletes gambling on their own games and even their own sports is clearly unethical, and they do deserve to be punished for these actions. However, the issue lies in the fact that the leagues promote gambling at every turn they can, while hurting the players in the process. Additionally, in the NBA and the NFL’s CBA, gambling revenue is classified as league revenue, and thus players receive a portion of their pay due to sports gambling (CBS News, 2023). The CBA gives the NBA and NFL players the ability to receive a small percentage of the gambling money the league collects, but they are not allowed to participate in the gambling. The players and especially the higher-ups profit directly from gambling, yet only one party is forbidden from participating in gambling. Moreover, team owners have in the past invested in sports gambling companies and do not get punished for it. Hence, the league is punishing its players for actions that everyone else in the league can do. This double standard is at the heart of current sports legal issues. Today, it is increasingly likely that professional athletes will be complicit in sports gambling. In recent years, NBA players Terry Rozier and Jontay Porter have been indefinitely suspended for betting on sports games. With the professional leagues showing no signs of ending their partnerships with sports gambling, players must step up and form a new CBA that gives them a say in gambling policies. Ultimately, major sports leagues must stop partnering with gambling companies because it corrupts the product for the fans and also destroys players' careers in the process.Today, sports bars have become synonymous with sports gambling. On every TV, there are DraftKings and FanDuel plastered on the screen, with commentators constantly referencing betting lines throughout the game. Sports gambling has completely changed and taken over every aspect of sports coverage. League commissioners shake hands with gambling companies, and coverage outlets promote sports gambling at every turn they can, yet the players' careers are ruined if they participate in any sports gambling. This contradiction between how leagues promote gambling while simultaneously punishing the players is often argued to be one of the largest double standards in professional sports today.
In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, thereby legalizing sports betting (Oyez, 2018). Since then, sports gambling companies across America have handled over 600 billion dollars and have become intertwined in American sports culture (Deseret News, 2026). Sports gambling often starts out as harmless fantasy football leagues with small buy-ins for everybody in the league. Next, it goes to people making a bracket pool in March Madness to get a perfect bracket. The quick hit of dopamine and the easy access to websites online have been targeting wealthier college students who can just pick up their phone and bet on any live sports. Today, the introduction of Kalshi and Polymarket has made sports gambling increasingly unregulated. These prediction markets now sponsor every sports event and are not constrained by many of the laws that traditional sports gambling companies are. Nearly all NBA teams partner with sportsbooks, and some even display betting inside the arena (Legal Sports Report, 2023). Hence, it is now impossible to consume sports without also viewing sports gambling.
Although sports leagues are earning a hefty profit from sports gambling, the players do not get the same leeway that the owners and other members of the league get. While the sports leagues get to reap the rewards of partnering with sports gambling companies, the players have a no-tolerance policy when it comes to participating. In the NFL, gambling is not even part of the CBA; it is simply at the commissioner's arbitrary discretion, and he has unchecked control over it. Moreover, since it is strictly up to the NFL commissioner, the players have zero say in how sports gambling policies operate. These players are forced to play in stadiums filled with advertisements about sports gambling sites and listen to top officials in the league promote gambling. Yet, they get punished for participating in gambling.
It must be said that athletes gambling on their own games and even their own sports is clearly unethical, and they do deserve to be punished for these actions. However, the issue lies in the fact that the leagues promote gambling at every turn they can, while hurting the players in the process. Additionally, in the NBA and the NFL’s CBA, gambling revenue is classified as league revenue, and thus players receive a portion of their pay due to sports gambling (CBS News, 2023). The CBA gives the NBA and NFL players the ability to receive a small percentage of the gambling money the league collects, but they are not allowed to participate in the gambling. The players and especially the higher-ups profit directly from gambling, yet only one party is forbidden from participating in gambling. Moreover, team owners have in the past invested in sports gambling companies and do not get punished for it. Hence, the league is punishing its players for actions that everyone else in the league can do. This double standard is at the heart of current sports legal issues. Today, it is increasingly likely that professional athletes will be complicit in sports gambling. In recent years, NBA players Terry Rozier and Jontay Porter have been indefinitely suspended for betting on sports games. With the professional leagues showing no signs of ending their partnerships with sports gambling, players must step up and form a new CBA that gives them a say in gambling policies. Ultimately, major sports leagues must stop partnering with gambling companies because it corrupts the product for the fans and also destroys players' careers in the process.
References
CBS News. (2023). A look at sports gambling rules among the Big 4 pro leagues. https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/a-look-at-sports-gambling-rules-among-the-big-4-pro-leagues/
Deseret News. (2026, January 22). Sports and gambling: The pitfalls of an alliance. https://www.deseret.com/sports/2026/01/22/sports-gambling-pro-sports-problem/
Legal Sports Report. (2023, May 9). NBA betting rule changes allow players to endorse, invest in sportsbooks. https://www.legalsportsreport.com/113685/nba-betting-rule-changes-allow-players-to-endorse-invest-in-sportsbooks/
Oyez. (2018). Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association. www.oyez.org/cases/2017/16-476. Accessed March 15, 2026.
