Sports Betting Land Grab Forcing Books To Take Massive Bets Whether They Want To or Not
Published on March 27th, 2021 12:36 pm ESTWritten By: Dave Manuel
If you follow the US sports betting industry, you know that sportsbooks are frequently taking massive bets from the public.
$3 million bets on the winner of the Super Bowl. $1 million bets on the outcome of a UFC fight. $5 million bets on the winner of the World Series.
You might look at these wagers and think that this is great business for the sportsbooks and that they would be happy to take on bets of this size.
Here's the thing - sportsbooks operate by balancing bets so as to minimize their liability, while making money from the "vig".
In the past, books might reject massive wagers, as it would leave them vulnerable to a big loss.
In this day and age, however, they are afraid to reject these wagers as they are desperately fighting to gain market share in the rapidly opening US market.
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There are some very deep-pocketed sports bettors in the United States right now who are taking advantage of the changing sports betting laws.
These aren't just rich businessmen - thanks to the surge in the stock and crypto markets, there are many younger sports bettors who are unthinkably rich as well.
In the past, sports bettors in the US would either have to travel to Las Vegas or make wagers with offshore books in order to place bets. Moving large amounts of money around would be a serious issue, especially when dealing with offshore books.
Now, with more than a dozen states offering legal sports betting, these bettors can usually make massive bets without having to travel too far.
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Sportsbooks like BetMGM and DraftKings are very hesitant to reject large bets, as word would quickly leak and it would likely harm their business.
These books are spending untold amounts of money on marketing right now, and the last thing that they want to do is turn down big bets. These large bets get reported on by media outlets like ESPN, and it provides some very valuable free marketing.
So, instead of turning down wagers or only allowing greatly reduced bets, these books are accepting all of these big money wagers, which is why you are frequently hearing about people placing million dollar bets.
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When the sports betting market in the United States begins to mature, you may hear more about books limiting the size of bets in order to limit their liability.
Until then, however, expect to hear more and more about these impossibly large bets being placed.