The NFL doubtlessly doesn’t want to be dragged into the same sort of scandalous and sports betting-related limelight as some of its fellow leagues, and is reminding its teams of what it’s doing to try to ensure that doesn’t happen.
- The NFL told teams it has long worked with lawmakers, regulators, and sportsbook partners to limit or ban risky prop bets that could threaten game integrity.
- A new memo reiterates which wagers are prohibited, including those tied to injuries, officiating, single-player outcomes, or pre-determined plays.
- The reminder comes as other leagues try to tighten prop-bet rules and as prediction markets expand, prompting the NFL to treat them as prohibited gambling activity for players.
On Thursday, a trio of NFL executives sent a "Sports Betting Update" to team officials that acknowledged the recent scandals and highlighted what the league is doing to avoid running into similar issues.
The memo noted that federal law enforcement has brought "serious criminal charges" tied to prop bets, the "particular risks" of which the NFL says it has recognized from the early days of legalized sports betting.
"Accordingly, we have actively engaged with both state lawmakers and regulators, as well as with our sports betting partners, to limit – and where possible prohibited altogether – prop bets in the NFL," the memo says. "Our commercial agreements are regularly reviewed and updated to prohibit wagers that are tied to the kind of conduct that was identified in recent federal law enforcement activity, and we maintain regular contact with state officials to ensure that these wagers are appropriately addressed."
The memo then goes on to give a summary of "prohibited wagers," including those tied to player injuries, officiating, "based on outcomes 100% determinable by one person in one play" (such as a whether a kicker will miss a field-goal attempt), and pre-determined (such as whether a team's first play from scrimmage will be a run or a pass).
The NFL sent a memo to team officials today, saying that in light of recent gambling scandals in other sports, the league has worked with lawmakers, regulators and sports betting partners in recent weeks to limit and, where possible, prohibit prop bets in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/qDF6KMHwln
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 13, 2025
Thursday’s memo is more of a reminder than “new” news, as the league held a briefing for media prior to the season that outlined its sports betting-related efforts, including its successes in getting sportsbook partners to not offer certain betting markets. The NFL also has other longer-standing policies in place for players, such as never bet on the league itself and don't share inside information.
Still, the league’s memo comes amid several sports betting-related scandals of late and as the NFL's peers are eyeing ways to reduce risk from certain betting markets offered by sportsbooks. For example, Major League Baseball announced earlier this week that its sportsbook partners had agreed to restrictions on pitcher prop bets.
One of the appendices to the NFL memo is a reminder of their gambling rules, one of which could be applied to microbetting.
"Never throw or fix an NFL game, influence its outcome, statistics or score for gambling: Manipulating even a single play within a game for gambling purposes is prohibited," the memo says.
The landscape for legal sports betting in the U.S. also continues to change due to federally regulated prediction markets, which are offering sports wagering in all 50 states via event contracts. Major sportsbook operators DraftKings and FanDuel are even preparing to launch their own prediction markets, complete with that de facto sports wagering.
The NFL is aware of prediction markets and has treated them similar to sportsbooks for the purposes of its gambling policies. Thursday’s memo notes those prediction market-related policies, in addition to highlighting a recent message sent to players about prop bets.
"Apart from these prohibited categories of bets, we engage in comprehensive, year-round educational, monitoring, and – where necessary – disciplinary activity to protect game integrity," the memo adds. "We also maintain regular communications with clubs and personnel, including players (for example, this week all players received a reminder on the subject of prop bets), and policy updates to respond to developments relating to sports gambling, such as the recent guidance confirming that so-called 'prediction markets' constitute prohibited gambling activity."
