Kick-Flip & A Betting Reckoning

03/27/2024

By: Jeff Yoder

Good Morning!

We’re taking a quick pause from the NCAA Tournament coverage to recharge before the second weekend. It’s a double-feature newsletter today with two unique main storylines that are trending this week — new NFL rules and sports gambling’s reckoning.

Join us tomorrow for MLB Opening Day and the Men’s Sweet 16. Another epic weekend awaits.

Letter Rip!

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NFL

Kick-Flip: NFL Overhauls Kickoffs

Players & Fans React as NFL Overhauls Kickoff Rules, Bans Hip-Drop Tackle & More at This Week’s Owners Meetings

NFL owners continue to meet this week in Florida, and the overhaul of football continues. Yes, those 32 billionaires who own your favorite team(s) are calling the shots on new rules, safety protocols and trade deadlines — not the NFLPA. Multiple changes are coming in 2024 after owners votes solidified major changes to the kickoff format, hip-drop tackle and the trade deadline. The new kickoff format feels like a 50/50 response (good/bad), but the hip-drop ban will be a conversation topic all next year, and maybe for years to come. Let’s digest some of the new rules.

NFL Rule Changes

New Kickoff Format: X(FL) Marks the Spot

The NFL’s new kickoff format will mimic what’s been tested by the XFL in recent years. The kicker will tee up the ball from the 35-yard line with the kicking team’s players lined up at the opposing 40 — 25 yards in front of the kicker. The return team will line up behind their own 35-yard line. That’s just five-to-ten yards of separation between the walls of defenders and blockers. The kickoff has historically been the most dangerous play in football due to high-speed collisions. This will turn kickoffs upside down. Here’s an example.

Banning the Hip-Drop: But How?

While the kickoff rule has pros and cons, most agree that it’s worth trying. The hip-drop tackle ban (announced Monday) is a different story. Defensive players and the NFLPA are irate over the new rule that will penalize tacklers for “dropping their weight” when tackling a player from the side or from behind. It’s a good idea, in theory, to try and protect offensive players from injury, but the application could be disastrous. Fans can expect to see an influx of flags on tackles that would’ve been viewed as “clean” in the past. I’m not sure how you tackle a ballcarrier from the side without dropping your weight (unless he’s stationary). Players weren’t happy.

The Trade Deadline: After Week 9

Owners also approved a new rule to move the mid-season trade deadline back one week. It used to be the Tuesday after Week 8. This will give teams one more week to iron out their playoff identity (contender or rebuild) before making deals. Overall thoughts? Eh.

Extra Challenge: Hit 1, Get 1

Another new rule impacts challenges for coaches. In the past, coaches could challenge two calls per game and sacrifice a timeout if the challenges were unsuccessful. If both were successful, they would gain a third challenge. Now, a coach only needs to be successful on one challenge to get a third rewarded.

The owners are reportedly still in Florida through the end of the week, so we might see more rule changes. Overall takeaways? Expect weird kickoff adjustments and more flags (red and yellow) in 2024. Good luck, tacklers.

Read More

NBC Sports: NFL Approves New Kickoff Format

SI: New NFL Trade Deadline Could Be More Exciting Than Ever

Yahoo! Sports: Why is NFL Banning Hip-Drop Tackle, And What Does That Even Mean?

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BETTING

Gamble Game: A Sports Betting Reckoning

In the New-Age World of Sports Betting, Everybody’s Got a Guy

The last ten years have brought an unprecedented firestorm in the murky world of sports betting. It’s been fun (at times) to see it become legal and accessible all over the country. I’ll admit to placing a few mini-bets through an app on my phone just to keep things interesting, but sports gambling isn’t something we promote in The Sportsletter. It’s also not a topic we have time to cover in full, but it’s increasingly relevant at the moment. I wrote my masters thesis on the topic back in 2015, and that was 40-plus pages. Here’s a condensed version after the past few weeks have unveiled what we’ve always known: Everybody’s got a guy.

The Parlay That Keeps Hitting

Just this past week, Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter was fired for stealing $4.5 million to cover gambling debts. The NBA is now investigating irregularities surrounding Raptors’ two-way star Jontay Porter after a massive influx in prop bets bankrolled Vegas when Porter had some questionably-timed injuries. We also watched one of the best receivers in the NFL — Calvin Ridley — miss an entire season in 2023 for betting on NFL games. Ten more NFL players were suspended last season. Want to get real crazy? A former SEC quarterback recently claimed that “almost every game is rigged.” That was Mo Hasan, a former Vanderbilt quarterback. He said Alabama had ties to the mob and someone approached him with a $300k offer. And while there’s little-to-no validity in that last anecdote, nor are we suggesting Ohtani isn’t being truthful, the stories do raise eyebrows with more questions than answers.

NIL: No Integrity Left

Nick Saban recently spoke to Congress about the challenges of the new NIL era in collegiate sports. He claimed it was one of the factors that drove him to retire early. “Kids don’t care about how you’re going to develop them, only what you’re going to pay them,” Saban said. Those same kids can easily get their friends or family to place prop bets (on them) and share the earnings. And trust me, that’s happening.

What’s Coming Next?

Sports has shifted from a passion pursuit to a multi-billion dollar commercial entertainment product in the last 50 years. That’s due to a number of obvious factors — TV, brand deals, etc. — but we’re constantly seeing adjustments to rules and regulations that maintain the integrity of sport while allowing freedoms under the guise of player empowerment. The transfer portal and NIL are still in the infant stage, and pro athlete contracts are approaching the billions. Who cares, right? Michael Jordan was a known gambling addict and he’s still the GOAT. Most athletes do abide by the rules and play fair. But this new-age movement is quickly becoming dangerous. More athletes (than you think) are profiting in the shadows of the betting app era. There are now more than 40 legal sports betting apps available nationwide… from your pocket.

Sports’ integrity is getting a full-court press with pocket-bettors. The reckoning is coming, and these recent stories won’t be the last. Expect more gambles to end in shambles for some of your favorite athletes. And soon.

The Athletic: Gambling Suspensions for Pro Athletes Are on the Rise. Is This the Tip of the Iceberg?

Yahoo! Sports: Shohei Ohtani Interpreter Scandal: 4 Remaining Questions After Dodgers Star Tells His Side of the Story

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HIGHLIGHTS

NBA

Warriors def. Heat (113-92)

Thunder def. Pelicans (119-112)

Mavericks def. Kings (132-96)

Lakers def. Bucks (128-124, 2OT)

*Lakers Rally From 19 Points Down in 4th

*Anthony Davis (34 pts, 23 rebs), Austin Reaves Hits Dagger 3

NHL

Capitals def. Red Wings (4-3, OT)

Devils def. Maple Leafs (6-3)

Oilers def. Jets (4-3, OT)

Predators def. Golden Knights (5-4, OT)

Rangers def. Flyers (6-5, OT)

*Rangers 1st Team to Clinch Playoff Berth

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STORYLINES

NBA Power Rankings

A big win catapulted the Bucks into the top five this week, but the slumping Warriors are feeling the pressure from the Rockets. Houston has won nine straight games. Also relevant: Here come the Nuggets. (CBS Sports)

Berhalter’s Vindication

The U.S. Men’s National Team was starting to feel the pressure after three consecutive poor performances entering Sunday’s Concacaf Nations League final against Mexico. That triumph vindicated coach Greg Berhalter — for now. (FOX Sports)

Saban’s Retirement Rec

Legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban produced six national championships over 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa (after he won one at LSU), 123 NFL draft picks — 44 first-rounders — and little time for anything else. So what’s he up to now? (ESPN)

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NEWS

Utah Women’s Basketball Team Moves Hotels After Racist Incidents in Idaho (ESPN)

Bears-Texans Announced for NFL Hall of Fame Preseason Game on Aug. 1 (B/R)

Titans Give Newly-Signed CB L’Jarius Sneed Mammoth 4-Year, $76.4 Million Deal (CBS Sports)

MLS Referees Ratify New CBA Ending Month-Long Lockout (Yahoo! Sports)

NFL to Play Christmas Doubleheader Despite Holiday Landing on Wednesday in 2024 (USA Today)

Rams to Sign Ex-Bills CB Tre’Davious White to 1-Year, $10 Million Deal (NBC Sports)

Yankees’ Aaron Judge to Appear in PAW Patrol Spin-Off Episode This Summer: ‘The Crew Builds a Ballpark’ (B/R)

Jimmer Fredette Headlines Team USA 3-on-3 Basketball Team for Paris Olympics (NBC Sports)

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SCHEDULE