In the early 2000s, the rules of the fantasy league between Green Bay Packers?front-office executives and scouts were straightforward: No money was involved. Coaches were not allowed to play, and you could not draft any Packers.Still, despite the seemingly harmless nature of the league, a team executive was a little bit concerned and thought he should call the NFL office. I knew [the NFL] had this mantra of gambling affects the integrity of the game, recalled Andrew Brandt, then a vice president for the Packers. Back then, I didnt know if fantasy was gambling. I didnt know how they would view it.The response I got was either We didnt have this conversation or Just do it and dont tell anyone that youre doing it.A decade later, Brandt, now a columnist for TheMMQB.com on Sports Illustrated, has a better understanding of the NFLs stance on fantasy sports and gambling. But, as discussions heat up about expanding legal sports betting in the U.S., he believes the league needs to be more proactive on the issue. Brandt, ESPN NFL Business Analyst, visited with Chalk about the leagues stance on sports betting as part of our series on the future of sports betting in the U.S.Q: How well do you think the NFLs gambling policy was understood back then, and how well is it understood now?A: People understand the general concept that gambling flies in the face of integrity in [the] sense that it has associations with fixing games. It has associations with casinos. It has an association with a negative element that goes against this mantra of competitive balance and integrity. But drilling down, I think its not that deep of [an] understanding, because there are some contradictions, and there are some questions as to how things apply.Q: How would you characterize the divide among NFL owners when it comes to the leagues opposition to expanding legal sports betting?A: I think the stance generally is more evolved. I say that because we havent had owners standing up on the table beating the drum against the possible relocation (of the Oakland Raiders) to Las Vegas. But even before we get to Vegas, I think theres a more evolved view. I cant name names, because I dont know which is which, but I do think there is an old guard that continues to hold up their hands in a stop sign to anything associated with gambling. But theres a newer version of ownership thats much more flexible when it comes to that.Q: What is the biggest concern from those who oppose sports betting?A: I think theres always the concern of competitive balance. It drives everything the league does. In my expertise, it drives the reason for restrictions on free agency. It drives the reason for a salary cap. It drives the reason for a draft in inverse order. And you can apply it to gambling. There is a concern that, if we allow [gambling] in, players, coaches, referees, executives will be subject to potential influence that could influence the outcome of these games. Every time Roger Goodell speaks about fantasy, the clear distinction is outcome of games versus outcomes of player performance. Thats the fear: that [gambling] could affect the competitive balance of the league. It could affect outcomes of games.Q: Why does the NFL believe the current environment, where the majority of bets are placed in an illegal, unregulated market, better protects the integrity of the game than a legal market overseen by licensed officials?A: Its a fair question. I think its the fear of the unknown. Its stepping into new territory, and again, I think the NFL isnt the most progressive sports league and not the one that you would see jumping into previously taboo areas. You have (NBA commissioner) Adam Silver writing an op-ed in the New York Times about exactly what you said in terms of bringing gambling out in the light. You have the NHL all-in, moving a team to Las Vegas. So before the NFL dips [its] toes in the water, I think they want to see it happen in other leagues. They dont move as nimbly as others.Q: Youve written about the need for the league to be proactive on sports gambling and possibly hiring a new executive position, a gambling czar. What would that positions responsibilities be, in your opinion?A: I do think that its a position that makes sense. It sort of follows the path of concussions and brain health. Because whats happened over the years is a positive trajectory toward concussions, a better understanding, better science, better rules, better governance and the hiring of a chief medical officer. I think that is a good path for the gambling issue. As they understand fantasy, as they understand the issues with Las Vegas, as they look into consequences for gambling, why not have the same strategy in hiring a chief gambling officer, what Ive called a gambling czar? So in this area that is incredibly changing and moving quickly, lot of legislation, lot of issues, lot of litigation and a potentially lucrative revenue source, which will get their attention as much as anything, why not hire this person?This person would have two primary responsibilities. One is regulation and enforcement, which is upholding the integrity of the game. First of all youd create the rules that prohibit players, coaches, referees, team personnel from placing bets in any way on any aspect of the game. The czar would be the clearinghouse that Ive talked about in terms of Can we do this? Why cant we do this? What are the limitations to play fantasy football? What are our limitations on aligning with a casino, whether sponsorship, advertising or marketing, etc.?Then I think there would also be the investigatory process that we hear so much about, with Roger Goodell and player conduct. There would be the same kind of policy, discipline, procedure and regulations in this area. Now, would Goodell want overarching authority? Thats another issue. But this czar would be the one deciding, notifying, investigating all these issues within this area.Q: The czar would have been the person you would have called regarding the Packers fantasy league? A: Absolutely. It would have been this person, and the answer would have been clear, concise. A general lawyer, who was the person that I called, is working on 50 different things, and gambling was probably not even on his radar. 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Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Rudy Gay Jersey . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). This story appears in ESPN The Magazines October 17 Great Debates Issue. Subscribe today!IF YOU WATCH sports, you cant escape Pitbull.There he was during last seasons NBA playoffs, his Bad Man carrying viewers to nearly every TNT commercial break. All June long, Pitbull occupied the Copa América after recording the official song of the tournament, Superstar, this coming after he recorded We Are One, the official song of the 2014 World Cup. And there he was at the Final Four, doing his signature rapid-fire fist-pumping while shouting the occasional word at the crowd during the Capital One JamFest.The world, as it is right now, is often overwhelming in the worst ways. Sports are an escape. And sometimes that escape is a bald rapper from Miami, sweating through a soft linen shirt while breathing heavily, pumping his fist and, along with it, pumping up the hopes of the crowd. It seems like an easy thing to show up sweaty, loud and overexcited to a roomful of eager fans. Yet if you or I did this, the room wouldnt shift for us, beyond perhaps an incredulous side-eye.Theres no debate: Pitbull is the new king of the stadium-shaking anthem despite being, for all intents and purposes, not particularly skilled as a musician. He is, in many ways, the musical equivalent of a bucket of popcorn: unsurprising and unexciting but somehow essential to an otherwise thrilling night. Because of his ability to latch on to any sporting event with 15,000 people and a budget, Pitbull comes off less as a fan of the games and more as an opportunist gaming the fans.What Pitbull lacks in musical skill, he makes up for with marketing savvy, in making a song so overwhelmingly infectious that it ends up being the sports anthem of the moment. But there is, perhaps, even greater skill in making the moment last. Most bands and artists can do this only once. Macklemores Cant Hold Us had its time in 2013, then it faded. If artists are lucky, like the White Stripes with Seven Nation Army, your sole anthem might have a life in arenas that spans decades. But Pitbull takes it further. He channels the energy of the experience, becoming the living embodiment of the moment before the moment. Hes transcendent: a performance artist who becomes the sports anthem himself.Despite his hypervisibility, Pitbull hasnt had a gold album in his past four outings, the closest being 2012s Global Warming, which peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard 200. In October, Pitbull is slated to release a new album, Climate Change. Its teeming with big-name guests: Drake, Meghan Trainor, Bruno Mars, Jennifer Lopez. Even witth all of this, the buzz is still hushed.dddddddddddd It seems, then, that Pitbull, at only 35, has made his bed. The anthem artist, not the album artist. We look to him when we need a reason to get pumped up and for little else.When the Cavs were down 3-1 to the Warriors in last seasons NBA Finals, it was hard to remember that LeBron James had a face other than the crying Jordan, endlessly affixed as his internet avatar. And then LeBron did what we knew he could do, because LeBron knew who he was: a player capable of leading a team to an NBA title.Pitbull is not LeBron James. One is a world-class athlete, and one is a somewhat failed rapper-turned-endless-party-starter. On top of their shared meme-ability, though, the lessons of LeBron and Pitbull are chapters of the same book. At his core, Pitbull knows who he is too. He takes the punches and the punchlines and hes still there, his comically large aviator sunglasses catching the stadium lights and shining.I dont know if Pitbull even likes sports. But in his own way, Pitbull is perfect for the world of sports. Hes everything we encourage our heroes to be. Thick-skinned, resilient, self-aware but not so self-aware that it becomes self-pitying. Despite enough of us throwing up our hands, exasperated, sighing, How did this guy get here again? Pitbull gets the last laugh. Your friends probably cant name more than two Pitbull songs, if any. But hes found a way in, playing his own brand of frantic, repetitive pop-rap to stadiums full of screaming fans. Are they his fans? Not entirely, but when the screams are that loud, does it matter?Emotions dont always simply surface from within us; sometimes someone has to carry us to them. Pitbull has it figured out. In his world, the quality of the music is a footnote to what the music can do. Its a place where people are already at the brink of excitement, just looking for someone to push them off the cliff.Like your friends, I could not sing a verse from a Pitbull song either. But Ive been in a stadium when the lights go down and a Pitbull song comes on, and I knew something good was coming, and I threw up my hands along with my neighbors.Pitbulls most notable ad lib is ?Dale! -- a Spanish word with multiple translations that all reach for the same sentiment: Lets?go ... Lets do this ... Go ahead! Its a word that, more than anything, gives permission to exhale and be free. We need more of that in sports. We need more of that everywhere. ' ' '