[Sport] Sports Betting Has Arrived to Transform the N.F.L. Or Not.

[Lunix I]

The N.F.L.’s centennial season begins Thursday, an anniversary the league has already begun celebrating.

Some observers believe that a true transformation of the sport’s economics is only just starting now thanks to the advancing legalization of sports betting across the country. The Supreme Court last year struck down a law that had banned sports betting in most states, so when the Packers and Bears kick off in Chicago on Thursday night, football fans in 12 states will be able to partake in some form of legal sports gambling. Several more states have launches in the works.

But fans hoping that spread will radically reshape how they watch America’s most po[CENSORED]r betting sport will be left disappointed, at least for now. This year’s N.F.L. will look a lot like last year’s N.F.L., which looked like the previous year’s N.F.L.

“We get great engagement, we don’t need to integrate sports betting directly into that,” said Christopher Halpin, the N.F.L. executive in charge of strategy. The television networks that show N.F.L. games seem to concur, likely in part because of the terms of their broadcast contracts.

N.F.L. television contracts have for decades prohibited announcers from talking about gambling, said Fred Gaudelli, the longtime producer of NBC’s football telecasts, on a conference call last week. Sports betting references would be “somewhat isolated” this season he said, adding that NBC was beginning conversations with the N.F.L. “about what’s possible going forward.”

A Fox spokesman said there could be betting references on-air “if it makes sense and our announcers can organically work it in.” An ESPN executive said there were “no plans to discuss gambling” on game telecasts and CBS executives were noncommittal. In other words, don’t expect on-screen betting lines or announcers regularly discussing whether a late-game field goal helped a team cover the spread.

As NBC sportscaster Al Michaels put it last week, “Most people who have bet on the game don’t have to be told what the point spread is.”

Nor will fans be bombarded with commercials for sports betting, like they were with commercials for daily fantasy four years ago. “We wouldn’t allow it to be jammed in their face,” said Halpin, describing how the league would monitor ad loads and engage in “frequency capping.”

Most states haven’t yet passed laws or created regulatory structures in the 15 months since gambling was allowed to expand. The residents in states with legalized betting make up less than 20 percent of the U.S. po[CENSORED]tion and its nascency means only a few places will allow fans to bet on their phones without first having to register at a casino. In New Jersey, the state with the most liberal mobile betting rules, roughly 80 percent of wagering is done through apps.