Category Archives: NFL

Tony Romo’s fantasy firm tackled for a loss in lawsuit against the NFL

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo’s fantasy football lawsuit against the National Football League took a real life hit on Monday after a judge dismissed one of his claims.

On Monday, Judge Carl Ginsberg dismissed Romo’s claim of tortious interference by the NFL in last year’s cancellation of the National Fantasy Football Convention (NFFC). Romo’s claims for breach of contract and estoppel (aka legal hypocrisy) are still hoping to reach a trial by jury.

The NFFC was scheduled to take place last July at the Sands Expo, a convention center associated with Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian Resort Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. Romo, who own a piece of the show’s organizer, The Fan Expo LLC, was set to appear at the NFFC along with a number of other current NFL players.

But the NFL intervened one month before the event was supposed to take place, threatening those players set to attend that they would be in violation of the league’s anti-gambling policy, which prohibits players from participating in events held at or sponsored by casinos.

Tony Romo vs NFL lawsuit heads to court

A lawsuit claiming that NFL improperly shut down fantasy football convention led by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in Las Vegas is heading to court on Monday.

Let us refresh your memory about this lawsuit. Romo was supposed to lead a fantasy football convention in Las Vegas in July 2015 but the National Football League (NFL) has threatened the players who were set to attend Romo’s National Fantasy Football Convention (NFFC).

NFL has no problem with fantasy sports as NFL commissioner Roger Goodell convinced himself that fantasy sports is not gambling. But it was location of the event that raised Goodell’s eyebrows, which was booked at the Sands Expo, a convention space of the Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. NFL began informing almost 100 NFL players that they could be subject to fines if they attend the event.

NFCC released a statement saying they were “postponing” their inaugural event until July 2016 due to “sudden and unexpected opposition taken by the NFL concerning player participation and their perceived association with gambling for an event in Las Vegas.”

Post Super Bowl 50 betting guide

With Super Bowl 50 betting all wrapped up, what’s next?

Super Bowl 50 is a thing of the past and as a football bettor you’re probably thinking of what you’re going to do while you wait for the next season. So courtesy of Bodog, here’s where to place all the money you won from Super Bowl 50.

Super Bowl 51 Future Betting

In the world of betting, early bird gets the bigger worm. While plenty of winning bettors are cashing in their tickets made these past two weeks, there are also plenty of future-book bettors who are smiling for getting a much bigger pay out.

Post Super Bowl 50 betting guide

With Super Bowl 50 betting all wrapped up, what’s next?

Super Bowl 50 is a thing of the past and as a football bettor you’re probably thinking of what you’re going to do while you wait for the next season. So courtesy of Bodog, here’s where to place all the money you won from Super Bowl 50.

Super Bowl 51 Future Betting

In the world of betting, early bird gets the bigger worm. While plenty of winning bettors are cashing in their tickets made these past two weeks, there are also plenty of future-book bettors who are smiling for getting a much bigger pay out.

Nevada sportsbooks set new Super Bowl betting record, third-highest win total

The game might have been mind-numbingly boring, but Super Bowl 50 proved a record setter for Nevada sports betting operators.

According to figures released Monday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state’s 194 licensed sportsbooks took in $132.5m in Super Bowl wagers this year, handily beating the previous record of $119.4m set two years ago at Super Bowl XLVIII.

Betting handle may have set a record, but 2016’s big game ranked only third on the all-time win total, behind 2014’s record $19.7m and 2005’s $15.4m The books held 10.1% of this year’s Super Bowl wagers, the eighth highest rate since the state began keeping records in 1991. That’s well back of 2014’s record 16.5% hold but much better than the abysmal 2.8% the books reported last year.

The positive result marked the eighth straight year the books have turned a profit on the Super Bowl since the Giants upset the Pats in 2008, one of only two years in which the books lost money on the big game.

Nevada sportsbooks set new Super Bowl betting record, third-highest win total

The game might have been mind-numbingly boring, but Super Bowl 50 proved a record setter for Nevada sports betting operators.

According to figures released Monday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the state’s 194 licensed sportsbooks took in $132.5m in Super Bowl wagers this year, handily beating the previous record of $119.4m set two years ago at Super Bowl XLVIII.

Betting handle may have set a record, but 2016’s big game ranked only third on the all-time win total, behind 2014’s record $19.7m and 2005’s $15.4m The books held 10.1% of this year’s Super Bowl wagers, the eighth highest rate since the state began keeping records in 1991. That’s well back of 2014’s record 16.5% hold but much better than the abysmal 2.8% the books reported last year.

The positive result marked the eighth straight year the books have turned a profit on the Super Bowl since the Giants upset the Pats in 2008, one of only two years in which the books lost money on the big game.

Steelers, Patriots, Seahawks early favorites to win Super Bowl LI

The Super Bowl 50 has just ended but for the Las Vegas bookmakers it’s never too early to start looking at next year’s future-book odds.

While Von Miller, Peyton Manning and the rest of Denver Broncos are still celebrating for hoisting the Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl 50 champions, the folks over at Westgate Las Vegas sportsbook are already listing the early favorites to win next year’s big game to be held in Houston, Texas.

The Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, and Pittsburgh Steelers all open as the breakaway favorites at 8/1.

The Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals are next at 10-1 while this year’s Super Bowl entrants Panthers along with Cincinnati Bengals are at 12-1. Dallas Cowboys is at 14/1 and this year’s champion Broncos is lagging behind at 20-1.

Broncos wins Super Bowl 50

The Denver Broncos win the Super Bowl 50, beating the Carolina Panthers by 24-10.

There can’t be a better storyline than Broncos, who entered the Super Bowl 50 as underdogs, wins the big game and the five-time MVP Peyton Manning completed what could be his final season with a Super Bowl title.

Carolina were the favorites on the odds to clinch the victory. With the regular season MVP Cam Newton at quarterback and Ron Rivera as the head coach, they have what it takes to win the game. But that is not the story today as the Panthers were upstaged by the Broncos who rushed in to an early 10-0.

The first touchdown came thanks to Von Miller who threw Newton off his game all day. Miller forced two fumbles to set up Denver’s two touchdowns, running back C.J. Anderson rushed for a touchdown and Brandon McManus kicked three field goals led the Broncos to its third Super Bowl championship since winning consecutive title in 1997 and 1998 seasons.

The Super Bowl 50 Betting Preview

There’s no better place to start a Super Bowl 50 betting preview than with the betting line. It opened at CAR -3.5, but has since ballooned up by two points and might double by the time we get to kick-off on Sunday. Everyone is taking the Panthers, but a small faction is siding with the point cushion the Broncos are boasting.

Breaking down a Super Bowl 50 betting preview isn’t easy from two standpoints. First off, about a bazillion people are writing about this game. The second part is that anyone who has half a brain and watched Carolina this season knows that they’re the better team in this game.

Let’s be frank about this. The Broncos own an advantage on defense when it comes to the tale of the tape, but the Panthers have a clear advantage when it comes to offense. Carolina was the second best scoring team in the league this year, and have continued to put up huge numbers in the playoffs. Denver, meanwhile, is a shell of what it was two seasons ago.

That’s why a ton of action is standing behind Cam Newton and the Panthers in this one. Are there any reasons to bet on Denver? That’s actually a pretty good place to start.

The Super Bowl 50 Betting Preview

There’s no better place to start a Super Bowl 50 betting preview than with the betting line. It opened at CAR -3.5, but has since ballooned up by two points and might double by the time we get to kick-off on Sunday. Everyone is taking the Panthers, but a small faction is siding with the point cushion the Broncos are boasting.

Breaking down a Super Bowl 50 betting preview isn’t easy from two standpoints. First off, about a bazillion people are writing about this game. The second part is that anyone who has half a brain and watched Carolina this season knows that they’re the better team in this game.

Let’s be frank about this. The Broncos own an advantage on defense when it comes to the tale of the tape, but the Panthers have a clear advantage when it comes to offense. Carolina was the second best scoring team in the league this year, and have continued to put up huge numbers in the playoffs. Denver, meanwhile, is a shell of what it was two seasons ago.

That’s why a ton of action is standing behind Cam Newton and the Panthers in this one. Are there any reasons to bet on Denver? That’s actually a pretty good place to start.

Cam Newton Is More Than Just A Black Quarterback

Cam Newton is waging an impossible war this week, and it’s not even against the Denver Broncos. Instead, he is facing an uphill battle against race relations within the NFL. Most of it is from racist idiots on Twitter, but a lot of it is being perpetuated by the media.

This particular frenzy is popping up at an opportune time. It’s black history month. Some girl I used to have a crush on from Clueless raved about how we don’t need to celebrate such an occasion. So naturally, people are going to gravitate towards the fascination that Cam Newton is a black quarterback (or African American if that’s what he prefers).

The question isn’t about black quarterbacks. It’s more so about running quarterbacks. Well beyond that, it’s about whether or not the old guard of the NFL is ready to accept that a new type of athlete could potentially play the position.

I’m not attempting to strafe from the argument about race. I made a point last week that discussions over “mobile quarterbacks” will often abandon a sense of dignity and begin to reek of racism. But we can attempt to alleviate the conversation if we look at this from an historical perspective.

Cam Newton Is More Than Just A Black Quarterback

Cam Newton is waging an impossible war this week, and it’s not even against the Denver Broncos. Instead, he is facing an uphill battle against race relations within the NFL. Most of it is from racist idiots on Twitter, but a lot of it is being perpetuated by the media.

This particular frenzy is popping up at an opportune time. It’s black history month. Some girl I used to have a crush on from Clueless raved about how we don’t need to celebrate such an occasion. So naturally, people are going to gravitate towards the fascination that Cam Newton is a black quarterback (or African American if that’s what he prefers).

The question isn’t about black quarterbacks. It’s more so about running quarterbacks. Well beyond that, it’s about whether or not the old guard of the NFL is ready to accept that a new type of athlete could potentially play the position.

I’m not attempting to strafe from the argument about race. I made a point last week that discussions over “mobile quarterbacks” will often abandon a sense of dignity and begin to reek of racism. But we can attempt to alleviate the conversation if we look at this from an historical perspective.

The Super Bowl Betting Indicator, A Possible Economic Warning

In the past we’ve done the MGM indicator and extended it into boxing with Mayweather Pacquiao. The MGM indicator turns green when visitor volume there increases. It generally means that people have more money in their pockets to gamble with, and provides a decent proxy for how much people are willing to spend in the rest of the economy. MGM volume is up 2% over the last 9 months, so we’re not in any bust phase yet. While the cue won’t give investors any workable clues as to when and when not to buy MGM specifically, it does seem to work for the rest of the economy.

The last time the MGM indicator went green was in November of 2014. MGM itself hasn’t done much since then in terms of its stock price, and neither has the US stock market in general, but the economy does continue to trudge slowly forward with unemployment continuing to step down. There may be another important proxy indicator in the Super Bowl, and what direction it moves in this year could say a lot about where we are headed in 2016 and 2017.

The LA Times had a telling piece out yesterday plotting regulated Las Vegas betting on Super Bowls since 2003. Here’s the chart:

There are three notable things about the data here. First, we saw a peak in regulated Super Bowl betting in 2006, the same year the housing market topped. Second, after that the numbers dragged down slowly through 2008, and 2009 was the huge drop off, for obvious reasons. Then there was a big boom in 2014 followed by the first drop in regulated Super Bowl betting volume since 2008. The last time that happened we were two and a half years away from a major recession, so the numbers could be quite telling this year.  Considering the size of the boom though from 2013 to 2014, last year’s drop could simply be noise from any number of factors, but if the drop continues it could mean trouble.

Prop Betting: Super Bowl 50

Sure, you could bet on the actual football, but where’s the fun in that?

Super Bowl 50 kicks off this Sunday and there will be millions of people watching because they’ve got something on the line. Whether you are betting at a casino in Las Vegas, through an online sportsbook or with your friends, almost everyone is wagering something on the Super Bowl.

The Carolina Panthers are currently listed as a 6-point favorite to win against the Denver Broncos but let’s set the traditional betting aside for a moment and go to a more exciting aspect of Super Bowl: the prop bets!

So courtesy of Bodog, here are some fun and a few silly props that you might want to wager on.

Prop Betting: Super Bowl 50

Sure, you could bet on the actual football, but where’s the fun in that?

Super Bowl 50 kicks off this Sunday and there will be millions of people watching because they’ve got something on the line. Whether you are betting at a casino in Las Vegas, through an online sportsbook or with your friends, almost everyone is wagering something on the Super Bowl.

The Carolina Panthers are currently listed as a 6-point favorite to win against the Denver Broncos but let’s set the traditional betting aside for a moment and go to a more exciting aspect of Super Bowl: the prop bets!

So courtesy of Bodog, here are some fun and a few silly props that you might want to wager on.

Super Bowl 50: Carolina Panthers vs. Denver Broncos

When: 6:30 PM ET, Sunday, February 7, 2016

Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California

The public perception believes that the Carolina Panthers will blowout the Denver Broncos hence the line movement has been rapidly trending in favor of Carolina with good reason as the Panthers had 8 double-digits victories in the regular season and the public probably recalls what happened in Super Bowl 48.

On the first snap of that particular game Peyton Manning mishandled the snap and had to take a safety to start the landslide by the Seattle Seahawks. Another reason for this continuing trend by the public to make Carolina favorite heavier is they firmly believe that Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers will dominate the Denver Bronco defense and the Carolina Panther defense will stuff Peyton Manning.

Super Bowl 50: Carolina Panthers vs. Denver Broncos

When: 6:30 PM ET, Sunday, February 7, 2016

Where: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, California

The public perception believes that the Carolina Panthers will blowout the Denver Broncos hence the line movement has been rapidly trending in favor of Carolina with good reason as the Panthers had 8 double-digits victories in the regular season and the public probably recalls what happened in Super Bowl 48.

On the first snap of that particular game Peyton Manning mishandled the snap and had to take a safety to start the landslide by the Seattle Seahawks. Another reason for this continuing trend by the public to make Carolina favorite heavier is they firmly believe that Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers will dominate the Denver Bronco defense and the Carolina Panther defense will stuff Peyton Manning.

NFL: no rule against Raiders move to Las Vegas

If you want to bet on Oakland Raiders moving to Las Vegas, think again.

Raiders’ owner Mark Davis paid a visit to Sin City for a meeting with Las Vegas Sands boss Sheldon Adelson on Friday. Davis toured the 42-acre site that could host a proposed $1.2 billion stadium in University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), which will push through with or without an NFL team.

Hours after the meeting, the NFL distributed a memo to all 32 teams’ PR directors specifically addressing the talk of Las Vegas as a possible destination for an NFL team.

The memo stated that “There is no prohibition under league rules on a team moving to any particular city.” In other words, the league doesn’t have a set policy against playing in Las Vegas. However, any move would have to get the support of 24 owners or three-fourths of the member clubs. And it’s very, very unlikely that 24 owners would vote to allow the Raiders to move to Las Vegas.

Chargers staying in San Diego… for another year, at least

The San Diego Chargers could be following the St. Louis Rams to their new digs in Los Angeles, but not for another year, at least.

On Friday, Chargers chairman Dean Spanos (pictured) announced that the NFL team would be staying in San Diego for the 2016 season “and I hope for the long term in a new stadium.” Spanos said he hoped to work with the city’s mayor and supervisor as well as the business community to “resolve our stadium dilemma.”

However, Spanos also confirmed that he’d inked “an option and an agreement with the Los Angeles Rams to go to Inglewood in the next year.” Two weeks ago, NFL owners approved a plan that would allow the Rams and Chargers to share the Inglewood stadium that will be completed in 2019.

While Spanos insisted that his “focus is on San Diego,” he cautioned that “everyone on both sides of the table … must now determine … how to deploy the additional resources provided by the NFL.” The NFL has pledged up to $300m in loans and grants for a new $1.8b stadium in San Diego, should the Chargers decide to stay.

Las Vegas Sands woos Oakland Raiders with promise of Vegas domed stadium

Casino operator Las Vegas Sands wants to build a $1b stadium in Las Vegas and they want the Oakland Raiders to call it home.

On Thursday, Sands senior VP Andy Abboud confirmed that the company was spearheading a group of investors looking to build a 65k-seat domed stadium near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The complex would host the UNLV football team and possibly an NFL franchise.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted Abboud saying Sands and/or the family of its owner, Sheldon Adelson, would contribute a significant portion of the funding for the public-private partnership. Abboud said Sands would present a formal plan sometime over the next two months to the branch of local government tasked with identifying ways to drive tourism.

On Friday, Raiders owner Mark Davis is scheduled to meet with Adelson and to scout out the 42-acre plot on which Adelson wants to build his stadium. The Raiders were in the running to move to Los Angeles (for the second time) but lost out to the St. Louis Rams (another L.A. fugitive) earlier this month.