Ever since Roger Goodell took over as NFL commissioner, the National Football League has received a facelift. No longer do players go unpunished for their brushes with the law and, if they do get arrested, the penalties handed out are very stiff. Goodell has instituted a no-tolerance policy for player misconduct and isn’t afraid to suspend people for an entire season if they step out of line.
Unfortunately, Goodell himself has been stepping out of line lately since he and his NFL cronies have decided to wage war against online poker. And this is by no means any exaggeration either since the NFL has hired one of the priciest Washington lobbyists, opened a PAC donation committee to help with expenses, and is operating a DC office for its crusade against poker.
Of course there has to be a good reason for America’s most successful sports league to start an all-out assault against online poker, right? Actually there have been no public statements about the NFL’s intentions in this matter other than that they think online gambling is cutting into the core of American morals. The truth is though that online poker is cutting into the ticket sales and number of $10 beers being sold at football stadiums across the US and the NFL has jumped on the anti-poker bandwagon.
And don’t worry because the NFL has plenty of help from Native American tribal casinos since they too have pledged their undying support (and more importantly, money) to the cause of ending the evil that is online poker. I hope we can all sleep better now knowing that the world’s biggest professional football league and tribal casinos are doing their best to keep us from harming ourselves by playing online poker.