Atlanta Falcons receiver Calvin Ridley is the biggest name to be suspended for gambling since legal sports betting began spreading four years ago.
But he probably won’t be the last.
Preventing players, coaches, officials, and anyone from betting on games in which they participate is a massive challenge, according to ESPN.
The NFL said it found no evidence that any games were compromised or that Ridley used inside information to make his wagers that were placed online in November 2021. At that time, Ridley was away from the Falcons on the non-football injury list and had announced that he was stepping away from football to work on his mental health.
Ridley is the second NFL player to be suspended for betting on league games. The legal market is what identified betting by Ridley and then-Arizona Cardinals defensive back Josh Shaw, who was suspended in 2019 after an NFL investigation found he had wagered on league games. Shaw was reinstated in 2021 but has not been picked up by a team.
Ridley will forfeit his $11.1 million salary next season while suspended.
He placed a three-team, five-team, and eight-team parlay, risking $500 on each. His parlays included the Falcons “to win,” according to sources. The Falcons were small road favorites over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Atlanta covered the spread in a 21-14 win. It has not been revealed to ESPN if Ridley bet on the Falcons on the money line (to win straight up) or with the point spread.
Ridley bet on multiple sports, including the NBA, for much larger stakes than his $500 parlays, upwards of $10,000, according to sources. The NFL gambling policy allows players to bet on other sports besides football with legal operators.
According to multiple sources familiar with the event, Ridley placed the bets on his cellphone but used a betting account not registered in his name with Hard Rock’s Florida sportsbook. Ridley was outside of Florida when he placed the bets, triggering a geolocation violation and leading the sportsbook to investigate further, according to the sources.
Online sportsbooks use geolocation services to track where bets are being placed. The geolocation service collects data, such as IP addresses, from the device being used to place the wager.
After receiving the geolocation notice, the Hard Rock sportsbook notified Genius Sports, an NFL partner that monitors the betting market for the league, prompting the investigation that ultimately led to Ridley’s suspension. Genius Sports is a London-based company that distributes data from leagues, including the NFL, to sportsbooks around the world, while also looking for unusual betting patterns.
What can sportsbooks do to prevent players and other prohibited personnel from betting on their leagues?
Sportsbooks face a significant challenge in preventing a player, coach, or referee from placing bets on their leagues. The professional sports leagues successfully lobbied many states to include regulations prohibiting players, coaches, trainers, and other personnel from betting on their sports.
Jeff Ifrah, a prominent gaming attorney in Washington, D.C., said it is difficult for sportsbooks to identify prohibited bettors, especially if a sports league hasn’t provided a comprehensive list of personnel and identifying data.
“It may be the case, for example, that a football player is betting, but if the NFL hasn’t given their database and integrated it with [a sportsbook] then the sportsbook isn’t going to be able to identify the player,” Ifrah told ESPN.
What can the NFL do to prevent players and other prohibited personnel from betting on the league? The NFL provides gambling education to players and personnel. Signage warning of the consequences of betting can be found in team facilities, and the league distributes educational videos, some featuring Shaw, that teams are required to watch.
Ultimately, though, there is no definitive way to stop players or prohibited personnel from placing bets on the league. Deterrence may be the league’s biggest weapon, and, in Ridley’s and Shaw’s cases, it didn’t stop them. Shaw, who bet on NFL games while on injured reserve for the Cardinals, also received a suspension of at least one year. He was reinstated March 20, 2021 but has not been signed.
The suspension of Calvin Ridley is one reason the NFL has put its plan for a vice president of sports betting on the front burner. Dealing with issues like players betting would fall under the purview of this position, according to Barrett Sports Media.
According to Action Network’s Darren Rovell, the vice president of sports betting will, among other things, protect the integrity of the game, advance the league’s brand and reputation, drive fan engagement, raise the worth of data and intellectual property rights, develop new ways to make money off of betting and deal with the issues like Calvin Ridley and other betting integrity matters.
The NFL planned for this position in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic mess resulted in a hiring freeze.
