The NFL season opened last weekend and the folks over at Bodog sportsbook couldn’t be happier about the situation. Last weekend marked the opening of US professional footbal and American players, recently released into the wilds of regulated sports betting, came out in droves to wager on their favorite teams.
According to a recent article on CalvinAyre.co, Bodog saw plenty of action on almost every game on the slate. The NFL, unlike college football, has not cancelled any regular season games – though the entire pre-season was cancelled.
Bodog reported that nearly 39 percent of all the wagers it took last weekend were on professional US football. That’s a pretty impressive number pandemic or not pandemic.
Things weren’t quite as rosy on the college football side of the game where wagers only accounted for 16.3 percent of the action. It should be noted that most of the major college football programs have either cancelled their seasons entirely or have cancelled non-conference play (which usually accounts for the first four games of the season).
More surprising was the fact that the NBA playoffs were nipping on college football’s heels with 15.47 percent of all wagers. There is no scenario except that pandemic that would allow for NBA playoffs and college football wagers to be placed on the same weekend, but here we are.
This season’s US football markets will likely be impacted by a massive number of new and inexperienced players who could have a big impact on the wagering scene. It seems likely that newbies will drive bizarre lines on big games. This situation could cause major headaches, or bring big wins to sharper action as the season plays out. Either way, sportsbooks like Bodog will be the major beneficiaries.