It’s becoming quite tiresome reporting on the NFL Lockout, but alas, it must be done considering the impact the loss of the NFL season would have on the online gambling industry and the gambling industry as a whole.
The problem with trying to make sense of the progression of the NFL Lockout is that the people who are actually in the board room aren’t talking to the press. Reports come from the fringe, from sources close to players, from reports who talked to so and so, and from anonymous owners and so on so forth.
It’s an endless stream of he said and they said and at the end of it, nothing seems to be getting done. It was once believed that a deal would be struck by July 10 according to Sports Illustrated’s Peter King. That didn’t happen.
Now the latest prediction being thrown about is that both sides will come to some sort of deal by July 21 according to the AP, which reported a “growing belief” that there’ll be an agreement. According to ESPN, an owner said that there’s “no reason to believe it won’t get done.”
There are those who remain sceptical, believing that both sides are still very far apart and that these early predictions are ploys by owners to put pressure on the players and to taint the image of the players in the media.
CBS.com reporter Pete Prisco warns fans not to believe the hype. Prisco quotes an unnamed player, “All that is hype coming from the owners side to try and put pressure on us to do a deal. They want to make us look bad. It’s simply not true. There is a lot of work to be done. They are not close.”
There are no winners here, just losers, both sides look bad to the gambling industry, who really just wants to see football being played and bet on as soon as possible.
Instead of twiddling our thumbs, sportsbooks may be able to squeeze out some NFL action with offerings on this latest prediction that the strike will end on July 21st.
