Up until the recent turn of events with the NHL’s newest expansion team, The Las Vegas Golden Knights, the gambler’s unicorn of biggest long shots to come in and cash was the EPL’s Leicester City’s 5,000-1 winning season. Now, Las Vegas doesn’t come close to those odds, opening at 500-1 and 100-1 widely accepted as the second biggest payout since the inception.
In truth, however, Las Vegas stands to lose a lot more on The Golden Knights than they ever lost on Leicester City due to the market the play in of Las Vegas. The English Premier League doesn’t have a huge following in The United States among casual gamblers, but just about everyone wanted to get a piece of the first professional sports team available to bet on in Las Vegas.
Just to touch the tip of the iceberg, Prop Swap recently put this 500-1 ticket up for sale:
Amongst professional gamblers making their living out in Las Vegas, when this ticket was available to purchase, we jumped on the chance to purchase a piece of history as the first available team to bet on in Las Vegas. Yours truly is currently holding 100-1, and it may haunt me for the rest of my life I didn’t purchase a $50 souvenir instead of a $5.00 one:
With @GoldenKnights now being the favorite to win The Stanley Cup here the the Stanley Cup Reminder if what may be my greatest win while being my biggest gambling regret in history. pic.twitter.com/hs6TRpzAxX
— Christian Pina (@ChristianPina) May 21, 2018
I wasn’t the only one:
“I figured the tickets were just souvenirs. It’s probably the most liability of any team (of any sport) during my 10 years here.”
— MGM sportsbook’s Jay Rood to @dougespn on Vegas Golden Knights, who were as high as 500/1 to win title & are now in the Stanley Cup Final. pic.twitter.com/TQLkFiwokZ
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 20, 2018
Here’s the thing. Expansion teams aren’t supposed to be good for a very long time. Here’s a look at how some expansion teams have done their first seaon in each league.
*Note: This is only talking about new teams, not ones that have moved like Oklahoma City, Washington Nationals, etc.
National Football League
1995: Carolina Panthers: 7-9 (4th place in division)
1996: Baltimore Ravens: 4-12 (last place in division)
1999: Jacksonville Jaguars: 4-12 (last place in division)
National Hockey League
1993: Florida Panthers: 33-34 (9th in East)
1993: Anaheim Mighty Ducks: 33-46 (9th in West)
1999: Nashville Predators: 28-47 (12th in West)
2017: Las Vegas Golden Knights: 51-24 (First In Pacific)
So, obviously odds makers can’t be held entirely accountable for hanging 500-1, 100-1, and so forth down to -110 at current time of writing.
But what I do want to talk about here is the ethical question. With everything surrounding the tragedy of the Las Vegas Shooting this Las Vegas team has given something locals can finally get behind in the same way that The Houston Astros brought together Houston after the tragedy of Hurricane Harvery, The Saints after Katrina, and The Boston Red Sox after the Boston Marathon bombing.
It’s safe to say the whole city is behind them, except for the beating Las Vegas casinos are going to take if Las Vegas can actually pull this off. This doesn’t affect the online stakes providers, as even the best best Paypal bingo sites are able to cover losses from all their other daily action, unlike local casinos in Vegas. That is only future liability as well, you know some of the city’s high rollers are going to be putting in some huge bets backing their hometown teams.
This isn’t a new idea however, as this article was posted by The Las Vegas Review Journal on December 7th, 2017 detailing the impact that was potentially possible. Remember, Las Vegas has already cashed in 200/1 to win The West, and here is just a taste of what could happen at each Las Vegas Casino:
Single biggest @GoldenKNnights ticket liability for handful of #Vegas sportsbooks:@Westgate : $400 at 300:1….$120K@CGTechnology_ : $500 at 200:1….$100K@SouthPointLV : $400 at 150:1….$60K@GoldenNuggetLV : $250 at 200:1….$50K@WilliamHillUS : $1,000 at 50:1….$50K
— Doug Kezirian (@DougESPN) May 20, 2018
I don’t think too many people are going to be crying and feeling bad for the books however.
#GoKnightsGo
