The Arizona Department of Gaming is now weighing into a controversy that has drawn sharp lines between professional conduct and personal behavior. This comes after Gold, the team’s director of college scouting, was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for alleged violations of the league’s gambling policy.
Gold’s legal team claims he was unaware of the draft selections before they were officially announced. His wife, according to his lawyer Mike Caspino, placed bets with a group of friends. But online chatter suggests Gold may have personally placed a parlay betting on the team’s first five draft picks — a move that would have required either inside knowledge or a near-perfect guess.
Gold is specifically accused of sharing details about the team’s first-round pick, running back Jeremiyah Love. His defense is expected to argue that only team owner Michael Bidwill and general manager Monti Ossenfort knew Love would be selected third overall. But the NFL argues that Gold’s role and the structure of the draft board gave him enough insight to make a legally murky bet.
A source with an NFL team told NBC ProFootballTalk the league wouldn’t have moved forward with this unless they were confident in their case. The NFL’s gambling policy has been under scrutiny for years, and the league sees this as a chance to assert boundaries in the era of widespread sports betting.
Gold is expected to file an appeal. His lawyer has not publicly outlined the strategy, but legal experts say the case will hinge on whether the league can prove he had definitive knowledge of unannounced draft choices.