By Gil Fried, University of West Florida, Co-Editor of Legal Issues in Sports Betting
Barstool Sports owner and founder Dave Portnoy announced in November 2023 that he is filing a class action lawsuit against the Cincinnati Bengals and the NFL. Portnoy lost a significant amount of money when he placed a $120,000 wager on the Bengals to cover a four-point spread at -110 odds on Thursday night football game against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens won the game 34-20. Cincinnati would fail to cover following Joe Burrow’s exit in the first half. It was later announced that Burrow suffered a torn ligament in his right wrist that will sideline him the remainder of the 2023/24 season.
Cincinnati’s social media team posted a photo of Burrow getting off the team plane earlier in the day with what appeared to be a wrap around the wrist. That was the wrist he later injured. The post was promptly deleted after rumors began to swirl. Despite the possible appearance of a possible soft cast, Burrow did not appear on the injury list per NFL regulations.
A number of fans, who of course lost money, urged sportsbooks to refund all bets on the Bengals after the team failed to disclose Burrow’s alleged injury. Because the sportsbooks refused to refund the money, Portnoy announced on X that he was taking matters into his own hands and threatened to file suit.
This is not the first time this season the NFL has come under fire for one of its teams failing to disclose valuable player health information. The league investigated the Atlanta Falcons after Bijan Robinson was limited to just one carry against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Robinson, as a key player on the offense, was left off any injury report. The team later claimed that Robinson was feeling unwell just that morning and it was a coach’s decision not to play him as often as expected. That did not sit well with various bettors.
It is standard practice for the league to question teams about a player if he is not included on the weekly injury report and then is either unavailable for the game or plays far less than what typically occurs. If a team violates the policy a team can be fined. The stakes are high because of the concern associated with league integrity and whether some might have inside information.
The NFL’s 2017 Personnel (Injury) Report Policy provides in pertinent parts:
“The Personnel (Injury) Report Policy has been a cornerstone of public confidence in the NFL for many decades. The credibility of the NFL, teams, owners, and team personnel requires full compliance with and uniform enforcement of the policy.
The intent is to provide full and complete information on player availability. It is NFL policy that information for dissemination to the public on all injured players be reported in a satisfactory manner by clubs to the league office, the opposing team, local and national media, and broadcast partners each game week of the regular season and postseason (including for the two Super Bowl teams between the Championship Games and Super Bowl).
The information must be credible, accurate, timely, and specific within the guidelines of the policy, which is of paramount importance in maintaining the integrity of the game. A violation of the policy may result in Commissioner discipline, which may include a fine on the involved club, fines or suspensions of involved individuals, as well as the possible forfeiture of draft choices by the involved club.
Each Public Relations Director is responsible for ensuring that all required injury and practice/game participation information is reported to the NFL Communications Department, and issued to the opposing team, local and national media, broadcast partners, etc., via the NFL Intranet site as provided hereinbelow.”
The Personnel (Injury) Report Policy is comprised of three sections:
1) Practice Report
2) Game Status Report
3) In-Game Injury Report
The Game Status Report’s player availability categories are defined as follows:
- Out – Will not play
- Doubtful – Unlikely to play
- Questionable – Uncertain if player will play
The policy goes on to provide: “injuries must be identified with a reasonable degree of specificity in terms that are meaningful to coaches, other club officials, the media, and the public. For example, leg injuries must be specified as ankle, knee, thigh or calf. Arm injuries must be identified as shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, or muscle. Listing an injury simply as “leg,” “arm,” “upper body,” or other equally vague description, is not acceptable.”
“If a player was listed on the club’s Practice Report during the week, but is not listed on the club’s Game Status Report, it means that the club is certain the player will play. If the player is then deactivated for the game, the club will be required to provide an explanation. If the explanation is inadequate or unpersuasive, a compliance investigation or enforcement proceeding may be initiated.
It might be that there is just a mistaken impression or an optical issue. However, if there was really an issue, the team and the NFL can receive a significant black eye. That would be especially true if some saw the pictures and placed bets based on that information which might not have been evident to every.
NFL’s 2017 Personnel (Injury) Report Policy – https://operations.nfl.com/media/2683/2017-nfl-injury-report-policy.pdf
