Sports betting has become nearly as popular as the sports themselves; but it isn’t for everyone.
Many professional sports teams have bans on players and personnel gambling.
Violations to that rule has been in the headlines over the past few months.
Now, the NFL Arizona Cardinals have suspended indefinitely personnel executive Ryan Gold for violating the NFL’s gambling policy.
In a statement, the NFL said, “the Gambling Policy, which is annually reviewed with all NFL personnel, strictly prohibits anyone in the NFL from participating in or facilitating any form of sports gambling, and from providing third parties non-public information. Although there is no reason to believe the integrity of any NFL game was affected, the League takes any violation of the Gambling Policy with the utmost seriousness.”
During their investigation, the NFL found that “Gold provided confidential, non-public inside information regarding 2026 draft selections by the Cardinals before the picks were announced, and Gold also participated in parlay bets on NFL and college games. The league didn’t say who Gold had provided with the information.”
Via statement, the Arizona Cardinals stated, “the NFL’s policies and expectations for all employees are clear, comprehensive, and consistently communicated. We fully support the league’s decision in this matter, which involves a single employee. Our focus remains on preparing for the start of training camp next week and the 2026 season.”
Before being named the personnel executive, Gold was director of college scouting and assistant director of college scouting and college scouting coordinator. He has spent the past 13 years with the Cardinals.
Gold does have the right to appeal the suspension ruling.