Twenty years ago, the NFL’s chilly relationship with Nevada and sports gambling began to thaw at a clandestine meeting with Las Vegas sportsbook officials that involved the NCAA and other sports leagues.

“They were just really curious at how we managed the line, how we came up with the numbers, and what we look for as far as suspicious activity or any type of red flags,” a gambling exec who attended the briefings (which, he says, also included representation from the FBI) tells Front Office Sports. “Our message was this: ‘We’re on the same side as you. We want to protect the integrity of these games; the integrity is our product. We want fair and true games. We don’t want to be taking wagers on something that’s predetermined.’”

This meeting—confirmed by another trusted gambling industry source—predated Roger Goodell’s ascent to NFL commissioner, in 2006. It came well before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in ’18, which legalized state-sanctioned betting nationwide. And, of course, before Las Vegas was selected more than two years ago as the host of Super Bowl LVIII.