The NFL suspends players for sports gambling

Five NFL players, including four Detroit Lions, were suspended on Friday in the league’s biggest crackdown on violations of its gambling policy in history.

🏈 What we know: Shaka Toney of the Washington Commanders and two Lions players, CJ Moore and Quintez Cephus, were suspended indefinitely for betting on the results of NFL games last season – though the league said it uncovered no evidence that any inside information was used, or that any game was compromised in any way. The NFL released no specifics about the bets placed by these players, or how the violations were uncovered.

The other two Lions players, Stanley Berryhill and 2022 1st-round pick Jameson Williams, were suspended six games apiece for placing bets on non-NFL sports while located in a team facility, which violates league policy.

📸 Big picture: Of the ten gambling-related suspensions in NFL history, seven have come since 2018 – or the year a Supreme Court ruling opened the door for legal sports betting (it’s now legal in 33 states plus D.C.).

Over the same period, all major US sports leagues signed partnership deals with companies that run sportsbooks. And if these partnerships were a person, they’d be Cuba Gooding Jr. – because they’re getting shown the money. Legal sports-betting revenue in the US reached an all-time high of $7.5 billion last year, per the American Gaming Association, up nearly 75% from 2021’s record high.