NFL reminds teams of long-standing prop-bet bans amid wider gambling turmoil

As professional and collegiate athletics grapple with the impacts of legalized sports gambling, the National Football League on Thursday sent a reminder to its teams that it has actively engaged with decision makers "to limit -- and where possible [prohibit] altogether -- prop bets in the NFL," according to a memo obtained by CBS Sports.

Not all prop bets have been eliminated, nor will they be, according to league sources. But amid several controversies across sports, the league wanted to remind its teams of the work it has done to potentially avoid some of the firestorms leagues like the NBA and MLB are currently enduring.

The NFL says in the memo that it has always banned certain props with its sports betting partners, placing them in four different prohibited wager categories: inherently objectionable, officiating-related, determinable by one person in one play and pre-determined.

The latter two categories are types of bets that have created controversy in baseball and basketball. In MLB, two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were indicted this week on conspiracy charges related to the players allegedly working with bettors on specific types of pitches they would throw.

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Last month, federal investigators arrested several people attached to the NBA for allegedly rigging games. Hall of Fame player and Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups was further implicated in an indictment for allegedly sitting star players and informing a bettor about it beforehand.

This week the NFL sent all its players a reminder on the subject of prop bets. The fast-rising "prediction markets" have always constituted "prohibited gambling activity" by the league.

Prop bets like "kicker to miss a field goal attempt" or "quarterback's first pass to be incomplete" have always been prohibited by the league for its sports gambling partners, which a source said make up about 98 percent of the legal sports betting market. Predetermined prop bets like "will this quarterback start this week" or "will a team's first play from scrimmage be a run or pass?" have also long been banned.

But bets on single players with cumulative stats -- like will a quarterback pass for more than 300 yards in a game -- have been and will continue to be allowed.

The NFL has so far avoided the major gambling crises seen in other sports, including across sports at the collegiate level. The league has not suspended a player due to a violation of the league's gambling rules since 2023, and it chalks that up to increased player education.

Players across sports have spoken out recently about the negativity they have received since the spread of legalized sports gambling. New York Giants kicker Graham Gano shared some of the vitriol he has received in recent years.

"I hear everyone else's frustration -- media, fans. Shoot, ever since sports betting started happening, I get people telling me to kill myself every week," Gano said. "'Cause I'll hit a kick that loses them money. I'll miss a kick and it loses them money. It was the other day that someone told me to get cancer and die. I mean, that stuff is part of it."