NFL FINALLY Contacts Casino In Ray Rice Video Investigation

NFL officials belatedly contacted the Revel Casino Wednesday ... attempting to find out if someone sent the Ray Rice elevator attack video to a League official back in April.

We're told the NFL is trying to find who was in a position to send a video to the League.

Sources familiar with the internal investigation tell TMZ ... the NFL was told casino employees burned 3 DVDs for distribution shortly after the incident. One DVD was burned for the Risk Management department at the Casino.

A second DVD was burned for Casino Security Investigations. We're told this DVD was supposed to be forwarded to local police.

As for the third DVD ... it's curious. We're told it went to a state law enforcement agency. Our sources would not reveal which agency or why the State of New Jersey was involved.

Our sources say just before the casino closed down ... the original version -- not the dub -- was sent over to Risk Management so it could be secured. We're told the risk manager who had received the first copy had left the casino, so her replacement received the original. We do not know if the replacement ever got the dub her predecessor received.