The Texas Supreme Court has been asked to review a lower court decision that held for the NFL’s gambling policy against a fantasy football convention associated with former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.
Romo’s National Fantasy Football Convention, which was scheduled for July 2015 at the Las Vegas Venetian and had commitments from dozens of NFL players, was shut down after the NFL decided that it violated the league’s anti-gambling policy. Threatened with discipline the players cancelled their appearances and the convention collapsed, costing much money to the organizers, Fan Expo.
Fan Expo sued and in February 2016 a Dallas district court dismissed the claim. This was upheld at the appeal level. Now Romo and Fan Expo are rolling the dice with the state Supreme Court.
Fan Expo argues that the NFL’s gambling policy is unclear. It claims that the convention was being held in a non-gaming part of the resort and that the NFL had allowed players to participate in similar events without repercussion.
The NFL argued that the policy prohibited participation by its personnel in events held at casinos or other gaming establishments.
Romo’s attorney Julie Petit said in a statement last week, “We’ve said from the beginning that we think the policy is ambiguous at best. To say that something is gambling-related, we think that is the type of question that should go to a jury.”
