Bettors were thanking the favorites during this past Thanksgiving weekend of football. The sportsbooks, though, weren’t feeling the love and couldn’t get a rise even with Dolly Patron’s halftime show on Thursday. Starting with three of four favorites covering Thursday and Friday, the Sunday afternoon and evening slate broke the backs of the books. The late Sunday slate, though, couldn’t help what is turning into a bad trend for Monday night football on ESPN.
Speaking of the World Wide Leader, ESPN Bet has come under criticism this week with their own version of the Tush Push. Can you believe the Eagles are a home underdog? They are – for now – and it’s not something they have been used to over the last two years. Finally, sports betting keeps hitting all-time highs, and believe it or not, there is still room for growth.
Sportsbooks Not Feeling Thankful; Monday Night Yawners, Eagles Underdogs and More Gaming News
Week 12 Saw NFL Bettors Thanking Favorites
Week 12 of the NFL slate saw 12 favorites win and cover, which was the most since Week 12 of 2017. According to ESPN, Chicago’s 12-10 win over Minnesota spoiled a Super Bowl-era record of 13 favorites with wins, but it didn’t save the sportsbooks.
The highlights of the Thanksgiving weekend slate included Philadelphia, Jacksonville, and Pittsburgh being the most-bet teams in terms of money. Baltimore replaced the Jaguars in that trio in terms of total tickets. The most-bet games were Bills-Eagles, Ravens-Chargers, and Steelers-Bengals. All of this, according to BetMGM.
This article from FoxSports.com does a great job of breaking down the day. It gives you an idea of what the sportsbooks were feeling game by game. The day started breakeven for the books, but all the favorites won the afternoon games and the Sunday night game. According to the article, the Ravens were included in many parlays, adding to the pain.
“We got crushed today,” BetMGM Nevada’s Scott Shelton is quoted as saying in the article.
Monday Night Excitement?
Interesting prop bet news from Week 12 came from Monday night’s game. Twitter was a buzz in the morning about Chicago’s D.J. Moore receptions prop bet of over/under 4.5. Bettors jumped on the over so early, and often, it forced some sportsbooks to remove the prop, for a little while at least. Of the books I use, I noticed Caesars removed it for a bit before it reappeared at -200. BetMGM, ESPN Bet, and FanDuel also had it juiced.
By the way, Moore hit the over in the first half and ended with 11 catches for 114 yards.
Monday night’s 22 total point yawner marked the 13th time in 14 games this season that the game has gone under. Since 2019, unders are 58-28-1 on Monday night.
ESPN Bet Under Fire for Push Policy; Announces Partnership with NHL
An ESPN Bet has its own version of the Tush Push. They have a Push Policy that rules a parlay bet a “push” if one of the games in the bet pushes. The policy received some criticism this week. This NY Post story gives a great recap of the issue. Other sportsbooks will adjust the payout if a game in a parlay pushes.
In other ESPN Bet news, PENN Entertainment, the operator of the sportsbook, and the National Hockey League announced Wednesday a partnership that designates ESPN BET in the U.S. and theScore Bet in Ontario as Official Sports Betting Partners of the NHL.
As official league partners, ESPN BET and theScore Bet will have access to a host of entitlements, including IP rights and media and marketing integrations across League programming and premium NHL experiences. PENN’s entitlements will begin immediately and span the NHL regular season, Stanley Cup® Playoffs, 2024 NHL Winter Classic®, 2024 NHL Stadium Series™, and 2024 NHL® All-Star Weekend. The partnership between PENN and the NHL will also include collaboration for best-in-class game integrity procedures.
“There’s definite excitement in being one of the first leagues to partner with ESPN BET and PENN Entertainment,” said Jason Jazayeri, NHL Vice President, Business Development. “From day one, we’ve said our media rights deal with ESPN and The Walt Disney Company has been a big win for our fans and our League, and this new collaboration is further testament to the value of our partnership.”
Eagles Dogs For Just The Third Time In Two Years
Week 13 of the NFL schedule features a possible NFC Championship battle between Philadelphia and San Francisco. The Eagles opened as a 1-point favorite. However, they are now a 2.5-point home underdog to the Niners, as of writing this post. Expect more line movement before Sunday’s clash, but here is an interesting tidbit.
However, this has made people think about The Birds as dogs, especially at home and as a 10-win team. Since 2004, this has happened just three times.
Teams that are 10-1 or better and home underdogs are 1-2 SU and 1-2 ATS over that span. Two of the three games saw the 10-plus-win team playing with a backup QB in the final week of the season. The third was the 2004 AFC Championship Game between the home team, Steelers +2.5 against New England.
Week 17 2020: Chiefs (14-1) +7 vs. Chargers (L38-21)
Week 17 2011: Packers (14-1) +6.5 vs. Lions (W 45-41)
AFC Championship 2004: Steelers (15-1) +2.5 vs. Patriots (L 41-27)
Looking at this slightly deeper, the Eagles have rarely taken the field as an underdog the last two years. According to bet365, the Eagles have kicked off as an underdog only once this season and twice in the last two years during the regular season. This year, Philadelphia’s lone game as the underdog was against Kansas City, a game the Eagles won. Last year, the Eagles lost to Dallas on Dec. 24, a game Jalen Hurts didn’t play.
Gaming Revenues Continue to Grow
The American Gaming Association announced last week that Q3 was the industry’s third-best on record. According to its Commerical Gaming Revenue Tracker, the industry generated $16.17 billion. They added that the industry is tracking for a third straight record year, pacing at 9.9 percent ahead of 2022.
The American Gaming Association added that combined in-person and online sports betting also recorded a strong quarter, with revenue up 22.8 percent year-over-year to $2.15 billion. This growth was mostly driven by 2023 newcomers in Maryland (online), Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Ohio. The vertical is set for a new record year, with Americans wagering $79 billion through the first nine months of 2023, a 32.7 percent increase from last year.
“Americans continue to migrate their action to the protections of legal, regulated sportsbooks in record numbers,” said AGA president and CEO Bill Miller. “This sustained demand only reinforces the need for federal and state enforcement against illegal, offshore operators.”
Imagine what will happen when Florida, Texas, and California finally jump on the bandwagon.
