All In On Vegas
Chiefs-49ers the matchup for the first Super Bowl held in the ancestral homeland of American gambling; NHL All-Star Game, Tar Heels-Blue Devils missed layup
The commissioners of professional sports leagues vilified sports betting - even the legal kind - until the certainty of its spread beyond Nevada and the prospect of it becoming a revenue stream sunk in.
One by one, led by the NBA’s Adam Silver, they each fell in line, even NFL commissioner Rodger Goodell, who in 2012 opined that “if gambling is permitted freely on sporting events, normal incidents of the game such as bad snaps, dropped passes, turnovers, penalties, and play calling inevitably will fuel speculation, distrust and accusations of point-shaving or game-fixing.”
In fairness, that is actually the case nearly six years after legal sports betting became a nationwide possibility and the NFL and its teams began taking on sports betting partnerships, even allowing retail sportsbooks on stadium grounds.
There remains a certain irony, or maybe finality, though, in that on Feb. 11, the NFL will hold its first Super Bowl in Las Vegas. This is, after all, the epicenter of a sports betting trade that has benefitted the NFL for years, even as the league’s power brokers stiff-armed it for image maintenance.
We don’t have anything to do with what happens there.
But now it happens, or will soon, in 39 US jurisdictions. And the NFL went to Las Vegas with the Raiders’ latest migration. And in a little more than a week, its greatest show goes, too.
The NFL and gambling have long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. Sportsbooks keep soaking up all those bets on the nation’s most popular sport. The league benefits even as its officials still squirm in explaining or defending from the bond.
It doesn’t matter. It’s long been out in the open for all to see. But the bright lights of Vegas will make it even more clear.
AP Photos; Brant James illustration
Super Bowl Primer
Tales from the Sportsbook
Here’s an interesting Dave Bontempo chat with DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello about vivid memories of Super Bowls past.
Seattle Seahawks 43, Denver Broncos 8
Super Bowl 48, Feb. 2, 2014
This time, the drama occurred in play number one. It wasn’t a good verdict for the books.
Remember the fastest score in Super Bowl history? Just 12 seconds in. It was the safety recorded by the Seahawks on the first scrimmage play on an errant snap by the Broncos. Seahawks 2, Broncos 0, Wynn Sportsbook, -$100,000 and more.
“We got dinged real badly on that one,” Avello recalls. “We had to pay the safety as the first score at 100-1. And then we had to pay for the safety in the game itself. It was a really bad break for us. We were down well into six figures, and we were just 12 seconds into the game. It happens sometimes. That put a damper on the game for us.”
NHL All-Star Game
Connor McDavid at +750 to do something? Yes, please.
Introducing the NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Feb. 2, where the Edmonton Oilers’ centerman is even with Colorado defenseman Cole Makar as the favorites for the overall skills crown.
These were the odds for the actual game on Saturday at FanDuel.
Unpacking Title Gaming Betting
Taking a quick snapshot of betting trends from the AFC and NFC championship games using data provided by Tipico:
Just 9% of futures straight bets placed during the regular season on Super Bowl 58 are still viable.
56% of pre-game money line bets were placed on the Ravens.
51% of pre-game money line bets were placed on the 49ers.
59% of live money line bets during the NFC title game were on the Lions.
Ad Nausea
The 90 zillion expected to watch Super Bowl 58 won’t have many gambling commercials to complain about from the national feed. The NFL set limits on the amount of ads for the game, and BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel purchased that very expensive air time - $7 million for 30 seconds last year - the NFL told The Associated Press.
Seven million dollars is a few sawbucks short of the sports betting handle at Mohegan Sun Pocono in November, for reference. We’ve already seen the FanDuel (Gronk kick) and BetMGM ads, so let’s ‘spoil’ the DraftKing effort and waste some millions.
(Draft)King James
LeBron James became a DraftKings brand ambassador this week but is being insulated from the NBA and will be used more for “key football initiatives and tentpole events through content creation, such as weekly football picks, and more,” according to a release.
James is just the fourth active professional athlete to endorse a legal sportsbook in the US and the first in the NBA.
There Would Have Been Bets, I Bet
AP Photo; Brant James illustration
No. 3 North Carolina hosts No. 7 Duke on Saturday, 37 days before sports betting goes live in the state.
Coincidence?
Yes.
A bummer for would-be bettors and taxing authorities? Most certainly.
Even worse, the rematch is March 9.
Sports betting launches on March 11.
Odds …
… and Ends
By Brant James, Gaming Today Senior Writer
Call 1-800-GAMBLER if you have a gambling problem. 21+: All content herein is intended for audiences 21+.