Fantasy sports isn’t about the money, it’s about enjoying the game, the teams and players you pick, says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Speaking at a fan forum in Minneapolis on Sunday, in advance of the Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers game, Goodell reiterated that fantasy sports should be about providing fans a fun way to interact with the game, drawing a line between traditional season-long games and the daily versions.
“Season-long fantasy [which] many people probably play here in this room — it’s for fun. It’s social,” said Goodell. “It’s an opportunity to enjoy the game, and we encourage our kids to do it. They have clubs in school. It’s a way to connect people, and we think that’s a wonderful way.”
Daily fantasy sports has taken a little different approach, Goodell pointed out, allowing participants to independently play and pick whatever players they want.
“It’s one [DFS] that we have not been as active in that. We want to make sure we understand how it’s going to be done,” said Goodell.
Goodell added that he is less worried with DFS creating an unfair influence over NFL players than traditional sports betting but believes the current DFS structure lacks consumer protection.
“Daily fantasy is different in this sense. It really would be difficult to have that quote-end-quote influence that we are worried about with gambling in general. So I’m less troubled on that front,” said Goodell. “But I also want to make sure our consumers, our fans, if you play something, I want to make sure there are proper consumer protections. That’s important for us and I think that’s something that is missing from the current structure.”
The NFL has prohibited its teams from making investments in daily fantasy sports companies, however NE Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones have made significant investments in DraftKings. Both were added to the class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida on Saturday. It’s likely Jones and Kraft will need to sell their stakes in the DFS company due to the NFL’s stance.
