NFL Fans Irritated at Anti-Gaming Lobby
Fans of the National Football League probably didn’t start off on the right foot anyway, since football is done for awhile and they’re forced to see baseball games/references everywhere. But there is another source of annoyance for NFL’ers, and that is the knowledge that the biggest opponent of online gaming in the United States is their very own football organization.
The NFL has promised to fight any effort by Rep. Barney Frank to push legislation that legalizes online gaming. With a lobbyist, an office in D.C., and a PAC donation committee in place, the NFL is ready to fight online gaming with the help of the Christian Coalition and Rep. Harry Reid of Nevada. Wait…What? Reid on the same side of this fight as Bob Goodlatte? Yessirreee.
Well, one NFL fan in particular sees the ridiculousness of it all. Dan Boone, of Bleacher Report:
The NFL, always a bright beacon of morals in a blighted land, has decided to self-righteously step into the public morals debate. The NFL does not want a bill allowing online gambling, that is a current bill legalizing poker, to pass.
The NFL behemoth is so against people playing online poker that they have hired a high priced Washington Lobbyist, opened a DC office, and set up a PAC Donation committee to help its noble cause.
So that’s where ticket increase money goes. That’s why the stadium beers are nine bucks and the exhibition games are full priced flops. Perhaps that explains the PSL’s. The league needs just craves some spare change to pay some politicos for favors.
Read the rest of “NFL Declares War on Poker” here.
scott diamond says:
April 24th, 2009 at 11:54am
Wow, They should be more worried about the Sports betting on NFL games in Vegas than Poker on-line.
A player can actually ruin a line in a game and cost bettors thousands but a player cannot ruin Poker with how he plays a football game.
People lose a lot more money betting on Football games than they would playing on line (Individuals)
Kevin Mathers says:
April 24th, 2009 at 12:01pm
That’s why they’re lobbying so hard against any form of online gambling. Slippery slope and all that stuff.
California Jen says:
April 24th, 2009 at 12:24pm
Online gaming may or may not include sports betting. The NFL will want a carve-out in the legislation. Thus, the lobbying effort from the NFL. But we just have to make sure the NFL doesn’t beat us down and defeat the whole enchilada.
DanM says:
April 24th, 2009 at 12:29pm
I would be open to something that repeals the UIGEA and allows all sorts of online gambling but carves out a prohibition for the NFL. Would be plenty happy to see Americans losing interest in the game as a result and start to embrace European football instead.
Also find it interesting but not surprising that Harry Reid is not our ally. He’s so deep in Big Casino pockets, and Big Casinos are not totally on our side yet. Shameful, but not shocking.
Kevin Mathers says:
April 24th, 2009 at 1:31pm
The article also said Jim Leach was a sitting Senator from Iowa.
pokerpolitics says:
April 26th, 2009 at 8:00pm
So why is Frank so hot on this issue anyways?
I refuse to believe that it could be because he just honestly thinks it the good and just thing to do so what is his motivation?
Oh, Dan, THought you might like to see this:
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/04/25/obama-to-end-representation-in-interrogations/
Event on the issues that liberals traditionally fall on the correct side of (from the libertarian/good vs evil/freedom vs tyranny standpoint) the Obama administration is wrong on! This is the worst of both worlds.
Deficits, check
Interventionist foreign policy, check,
Rampant violation of civil liberties, check
Aspirations fora control economy, check
DanM says:
April 27th, 2009 at 5:27am
Frank is hot on this issue because he’s made it his. For all the 100s of “issues” out there, the first step of any activist/grass roots organization is to get a congressperson to get way behind it. (In Texas we have Jose Menendez.)
Interestingly enough, the other guy who is way behind it is Ron Paul (my 98 percent hero). The two have forged quite a friendship since they did an online poker bill together last year … and now they are the two leading forces behind industrial hemp:
http://www.ronpaul.com/2009-04-03/ron-paul-and-barney-frank-introduce-hemp-farming-legislation-hr-1866/
***
Deficits, check
Interventionist foreign policy, check,
Rampant violation of civil liberties, check
Aspirations fora control economy, check
***
I’m sorry … when I see the above, I think George Bush, not Barack Obama. I look forward to seeing the results of his imperfect, but well-thought-out plans.
If they don’t play out as well as I think they will in a year, don’t worry, you’ll here me (easily) change my tune.
P.S. Your source on a DOJ argument in a Michigan court case doesn’t really hold up … it could be a technical change in process for all the info that’s out there. I’m OK with not getting to talk to your lawyer until you get to jail if you’re not gonna be taken to jail for smoking a joint. It’s all about compromise, dude.
Again, my reconsider (and pin on Obama) if it moves up a little higher in the court system and becomes a bigger issue.
DanM says:
April 27th, 2009 at 5:41am
Barney Frank is also supporting Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Fed:
http://www.ronpaul.com/2009-04-24/barney-frank-discusses-hr-1207-ron-pauls-bill-to-audit-the-fed/
The two are totally bffs.
pokerpolitics says:
April 27th, 2009 at 12:04pm
Your talking about a DOJ that does not believe (according to Holder’s past writings) that the 2nd amendment applies to regular citizens; to anyone paying attention its becoming abundantly clear that they do not value individual right or civil liberties. The Michigan case shows where this administration is at ideologically and for anyone who believes in the ideals that libertarians believe in its not in a good place.
Listening to that Barney Frank video once again confirms that Frank has not a clue what hes talking about economically. If you would like to read something that actually makes sense, regarding economics I would suggest visiting the below link. Frank clearly has no idea why the Fed needs to be audited and why the Fed is the true systemic evil in our economy; it is nothing more than a political payoff for Paul supporting the Poker bill.
That list of four items could be greatly associated with both Bush and Obama.
Well thought out plans? Why. Because he reads BS off of a teleprompter in a very resonant voice? I guess that makes me think he knows what hes doing but IDK…..
http://mises.org/
Would also suggest reading the book “Meltdown” by Tom Woods, he intellectually destroys people who think in the monopoly money terms that Frank does.