NHL

• Is sports gambling allowed? The collective bargaining agreement states: “Gambling on any NHL Game is prohibited.” That rule is also posted in every dressing room around the league. The NHL constitution, a document that details everything from club ownership rules to the powers of the commissioner, conveys similar information. Players and those working for a team or the league are allowed to bet on non-NHL events.
• Who does this apply to? It applies to players and those working for a team or the league.
• Where is sports gambling allowed? The NHL has no formal policy on where sports wagering is allowed. If there are any restrictions, they would be administered on a team-by-team basis.
• Does this include any wager? The only specific gambling prohibition is betting on NHL games.
• Does this include Super Bowl squares, NCAA tournament brackets or fantasy sports? Players are allowed to wager on any sport outside of the NHL, including Super Bowl squares, March Madness brackets, fantasy sports and other wagers, either with sports gambling outlets or among friends.
• There have been instances in the past in which players made news for their non-hockey wagering. Jaromir Jagr owed more than $500,000 to an Internet gambling site back in 2003. Former NHL winger Thomas Vanek owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to a bookmaker for betting on football and basketball games. Neither player was punished because they didn’t bet on the NHL.
• Are athletes required to sign a statement acknowledging gambling rules? Yes, as it’s part of their standard player contract. There is a section in which the player must acknowledge the league rules spelled out in the CBA.
• What are the punishments? Under Involuntary Termination (Section 3.9), “the wagering or countenancing of wagering by its officers or employees on any hockey game and/or games” is prohibited. Violations of that rule could cause a team owner to be suspended by the NHL or have their membership terminated if three-fourths of the teams approve that action.
• NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is empowered by the CBA to impose discipline on any player for violating an off-ice league rule or a player guilty of conduct that’s “detrimental to the welfare of the league or the game of hockey.” The CBA spells out three forms of punishment for the commissioner: A fine, canceling the player’s contract or expelling or suspending the player “for a definite or indefinite period.”
• How is it catching offenders? The NHL’s efforts to enforce its sports wagering rules were center stage recently as the league investigated Edmonton Oilers winger Evander Kane in 2021.
• Then a player for the San Jose Sharks, Kane and his wife, Deanna, were entering divorce proceedings when she used social media to claim he bet on Sharks games “with bookies” and threw games for gambling purposes. Kane, who denied the accusations, had been a well-known gambler. In filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Kane claimed to have lost $1.5 million gambling “at casino and via bookie” over a 12-month span.
• The NHL’s investigation was led by Jared Maples, the former head of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and the NHL’s executive vice president and chief security officer. He enlisted the help of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP. It looked for any paper or electronic trail that could connect Kane with a wager made on an NHL game. In September 2021, the NHL announced it found no evidence that Kane bet on NHL games or impacted their outcome for wagering purposes.
• In 2021, the NHL struck a 10-year deal with Sportradar that included being an official integrity services provider for the league. The company features a universal fraud detection system (UFDS) to proactively help safeguard and ensure the integrity of its competition by monitoring global gaming activity and trends worldwide.