It turns out that having a zero-tolerance policy towards gambling in a league flush with money from online gambling advertising is having some predictable effects.
To be clear, I do not- at all- think athletes should be gambling on their games. If any of that gets proven, that players bet on games they were involved in (particularly if they bet their team would lose), that's unacceptable. BUT... it's not a great look for the NFL to be cracking down this hard on it across the board when every single ad break is covered in gambling ads, casino odds are rattled off in every studio broadcast, even at least one arena is named for a casino conglomerate.
There's no putting that toothpaste back in its tube- the league isn't going to suddenly change its mind about that influx of money, obviously. But a situation where a player bets on, say, NBA games or even college football, shouldn't be resulting in the stiff penalties we're seeing (at least, my personal opinion). Not if the league wants to encourage betting on games the way it has been the last few years.
