The Book Report: Volume 2
Back in May, sportsbooks and sports gamblers alike would daydream about a time when we would have so many sporting events to watch at the same time that we would need more than 3 screens to follow all the action. The pandemic took away our routines and our love of a year-round schedule for sporting events.
Fast forward to this past weekend, and that dream finally became a reality again.
On Sunday, we had NBA and NHL playoff games going on at the same time, a full slate of Major League Baseball games from afternoon to evening, and a golf tournament that saw two of the craziest putts ever go down over the course of 30 minutes.
We should all take a moment to appreciate what we just experienced compared to where we once were in the sports world. Sunday was something special.
We start The Book Report at Fanduel where they announced a multi-year content and marketing relationship with the PGA Tour. Fanduel becomes the fourth sportsbook in recent weeks to become part of the Tour’s Official Betting Operating Program. This agreement will give Fanduel access to the PGA Tour’s video and the ability to create pre-game and post-game betting programming as well as distribution of highlights from PGA Tour events among other options.
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“We have long admired FanDuel’s brand, product and marketing strategies as well as the leadership position it has taken since the legalization of sports betting in 2018,†said Norb Gambuzza, SVP, Media and Gaming at the PGA TOUR said in a release. “We are excited to bring FanDuel into the PGA TOUR’s Official Betting Operator program as we continue to engage new fans in this rapidly growing space.â€
In addition to the big announcement, Fanduel also revealed that their handle on golf in 2020 is already more than what it was in all of 2019. Golf has been the most bet event at FanDuel in 9 of the last 12 Sundays and this week was no different at the BMW Championship.
“Golf interest is up on FanDuel, so we are excited to deepen our relationship with the PGA TOUR,†said Mike Raffensperger, CMO FanDuel Group. “We will now be able to offer unique gaming experiences on our platform, special TOUR related promotions for our customers and an enhanced content experience across the TOUR’s properties to really prove to bettors across the nation that there are More Ways to Win at FanDuel.â€
Tennis was also a sport with a big announcement ahead of the U.S. Open in New York this week. Draftkings announced that the largest handle for live events is now tennis and tennis is now third behind football and basketball for live handle overall at the book.
For the men side of the tournament, DK reports that 54% of the money has come in on Novak Djokovic to win while Danii Medvedev leads in the number of tickets written for him to take home the title.
For the women, DK has seen the most money come in on Serena Williams to continue her domination of the sport while Bianca Vanessa Adreescu to win the event has the greatest number of bets.
Here at The Book Report, we love to see crazy bets cash. This one at DK is pretty wild.
In New Jersey and Pennsylvania, BetRivers and Sugarhouse saw Game 5 for the Lakers and Blazers as the most heavily bet game of the weekend. That one game saw 32 percent of the overall weekend handle while baseball saw the greatest number of bets being placed. The Phillies and Braves series saw nine percent of all bets from the weekend.
For UFC Fight Night 175, all ten of the moneyline favorites cashed at BetRivers, which has only happened one other time in the history of the book. In addition to all the favorites winning, all 5 main card bouts went over the project round total as well. 61% of all bets on the total were placed on the over for the main card, so it was a good night for the public.
Golf was also a major hit at Sugarhouse where 50% of all winner bets were either on Dustin Johnson or John Rahm. The BMW Championship was responsible for more bets last week leading up until Sunday’s NBA slate of games.
In Las Vegas, Monday, August 31st was the last day of operation for CG Sportsbooks as they have been purchased by William Hill and the CG brand will no longer be used. The sale was approved last week and William Hill will assume full operation on Tuesday, September 1st. All bets made at CG will be honored by William Hill after today.
The move gives WH control over the books inside The Cosmopolitan, The Silverton, and Venentian/Palazzo. The books inside the Tropicana and The Palms remain closed due to the pandemic. With Caesar’s sale to El Dorado, William Hill will add another 11 sportsbook locations in Las Vegas making it the most visible operation on the Strip by far.
Biggest winner of the weekend is this person who turned $2 into a whole lot more.
Worst beat of the weekend was the Under 219.5 bet on the Nuggets versus Blazers. You had to feel good going into the last four minutes but then Jamal Murray took over.
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Matt Perrault is a featured writer at BettingPros and the host of the Daily Juice podcast. For more from Matt, check out his archive and follow him @sportstalkmatt.