IRVING, Texas– Dallas Cowboys strategist Tony Romo is unhappy with the NFL’s actions that led to the cancellation of the National Fantasy Football Convention that was scheduled to be held in Las Vegas July 10-12.
“It’s like when you’re in high school and you’re not invited to the party, it hurts you,” Romo said Tuesday on ESPN’s The Herd with Colin Cowherd. “If they really wanted to be a part of it, all they had to do was call and ask. It would have been a lot easier, I think, than going through the process like they did. We understand that these things happen and sometimes there’s a lot of money on the line from the NFL’s perspective. If we had known about the problem with the place or if we thought it was something that could have been a problem, the NFL could have told us right away. That’s where it makes things interesting.”
The league recently contacted the NFL Players Association about the event to remind players of a long-standing league policy that “NFL players and personnel may not participate in promotional activities or other appearances in connection with events hosted or sponsored by casinos.”
The NFFC was scheduled to be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, which does not offer on-site gambling. More than 100 players, including stars like Rob Gronkowski, Dez Bryant And DeMarco Murraywere expected to attend the inaugural convention where they reportedly interacted with fantasy football players during question-and-answer sessions and other events.
The event was announced in March, but the league said it only recently became aware of it. The league also said it contacted organizers, which Romo denied. Romo went on to say that he believed the league’s communication with the NFLPA served as a “scare tactic.”
Romo said he has spoken with the NFLPA and hopes it will support the players, but the association has not yet made a public comment.
“The NFL never called me, nor my agency, nor the NFFC,” Romo said. “They just began the process of communicating with the players and the NFLPA. I think when that takes shape, I think you’ll understand that the NFL was really trying to not necessarily cancel the event. I think more than that, they were probably trying to persuade people not to attend the event.”
The NFL said he was studying other Las Vegas events expected to feature current players later this summer. The league had no comment on individual players, such as Gronkowski and New England Patriots teammate Malcolm Butlermaking paid appearances at Las Vegas casinos.
Romo referenced a recent sponsorship deal between MGM Grand Detroit and Detroit Lions for a field level club area to be added to Ford Field.
“They’re talking about how no NFL player or staff should be associated (with casinos)Well, I’m like, it doesn’t really make sense,” Romo said. “There’s just way too many cases and it makes it seem like it’s all about money sometimes, which is disappointing because we were just trying to get the fans to spend time with the players.”
The NFFC offered refunds to fans who purchased tickets to the Las Vegas event or tickets to next year’s event, which will be held in Southern California.
Romo said the response from players involved in the NFFC has been overwhelming.
“These guys are all going through the same types of struggles and struggles and we’re all on this court, we want to beat each other so bad, that it’s unique to be able to have that feeling of walking off the court and enjoying a weekend together,” Romo said. “That’s what was frustrating for the players. And then (they) We were really looking forward to showing some of the people who were going to show their stuff and then meeting your fans, the people who really care about you. I mean, it’s just that it seems like a no-brainer to me, especially since it really wasn’t something that I didn’t think was going to break the NFL’s heart money-wise. But clearly, they have a problem.”br/)
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