Seattle-Green Bay touchdown call could have altered $250 million in bets

[PatriotSeven]

The notion that last night's game was fixed in favor of Seattle is idiotic. If the game was fixed, the last thing they would do is let it come down to a crazy 1-in-a-million Hail Mary the way it did. All it would take is a well timed holding call against the Packers offense on a couple key 3rd downs and you never get to have the crazy ending we saw.

The fact that is had such a crazy ending proves it wasn't fixed, not the reverse. Besides, one question I've asked which no one has ever answered: What does the NFL gain by fixing games?

That's some logic you have there.

Because the NFL isn't hand in hand with Vegas?
Because having huge upsets and controversies which spike interest and ratings don't help make money?
Because having match-ups, especially in the playoffs, between marque, huge fan base teams have no effect on profit?

Let me ask you something.....this is a business right? Well if you understand that, then understand the way a business wins is by raking in cash. In business you win by making money, not by winning a football game and some golden trophy.

Ask yourself the amount of merchandise the NFL sells from teams such as Pittsburgh, Patriots, Cowboys, Green Bay....especially when winning playoff games and championships versus if a team like the Jaguars would win? If the Jaguars won the super bowl, would NY city run out and buy their jerseys?

So to answer your question: gambling kick backs, merchandise sales, advertising profits, brand awareness...are among a few of the many ways the NFL would profit from fixing their own games...which as I have read, the NFL has argued is perfectly entitled to do, since there is nothing wrong for them to fix games for entertainment purposes.

In fact I'm willing to bet that if the Raiders, Jaguars, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland were the 4 teams left in the NFL championship games this year, half the owners would commit suicide.

 

[Joker]

Sports Illustrated just chimed in on this continuing fiasco of a debacle of a calamity of a feces storm...

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell must bring regular refs back - Michael Rosenberg - SI.com

I don't know if Goodell's referee nightmare is the worst mistake a commissioner has made in my lifetime, but it is surely the dumbest. At least when Bud Selig canceled the 1994 World Series and Gary Bettman canceled the 2004-05 NHL season, there were hundreds of millions of dollars at stake. Goodell put the integrity of his league on the line for vending-machine money.

Rosenberg goes on to take swipes at Kraft and other owners...it's a total freefall...a descent into sports hell...for WHAT???

 

[PatriotSeven]

"Due to one call by the replacement refs, the bettors lost $150 million, and the bookie won $150 million for a total swing of $300 million on one debatably bad call," Bell said.

Mike Colbert, head oddsmaker for Cantor Gaming, which runs seven sports books in Las Vegas and provides betting lines to 90 percent of Nevada's casinos, said Cantor's books took in about 20 percent more money in bets than usual for a Monday night game after a wild weekend.

Vegas books: $300M+ changed hands with NFL call | Local News | The Seattle Times

Just simple mistakes due to incompetence. That's all.

 

[Patradomous]

Due to one call by the replacement refs, the bettors lost $150 million, and the bookie won $150 million for a total swing of $300 million on one debatably bad call," Bell said.

Mike Colbert, head oddsmaker for Cantor Gaming, which runs seven sports books in Las Vegas and provides betting lines to 90 percent of Nevada's casinos, said Cantor's books took in about 20 percent more money in bets than usual for a Monday night game after a wild weekend.

For those who don't understand wagering, the bookie makes a commision on every bet waged no matter who you bet on. Usually 10%. So if you bet a 100$ on either GB or Seattle you got to put up 110$ to make a 100. Bookie wins regardless.In the above quote it sounds like the action was top heavy on GB which happen on a handful of games every week in the NFL.
If a line look too good it usually is. Be very careful of the Pats this week.They are only favored by 3 points.Easy huh? Thats what they want you to think.That game will get a lot of top heavy action this week.

 

[Wolfpack]

That's some logic you have there.

Because the NFL isn't hand in hand with Vegas?
Because having huge upsets and controversies which spike interest and ratings don't help make money?
Because having match-ups, especially in the playoffs, between marque, huge fan base teams have no effect on profit?

Let me ask you something.....this is a business right? Well if you understand that, then understand the way a business wins is by raking in cash. In business you win by making money, not by winning a football game and some golden trophy.

Ask yourself the amount of merchandise the NFL sells from teams such as Pittsburgh, Patriots, Cowboys, Green Bay....especially when winning playoff games and championships versus if a team like the Jaguars would win? If the Jaguars won the super bowl, would NY city run out and buy their jerseys?

So to answer your question: gambling kick backs, merchandise sales, advertising profits, brand awareness...are among a few of the many ways the NFL would profit from fixing their own games...which as I have read, the NFL has argued is perfectly entitled to do, since there is nothing wrong for them to fix games for entertainment purposes.[

When the heck has the NFL ever said they are "entitled" to fix games? If it ever came out these games were fixed at the league level, not only would a lot of people to to jail, it would be the biggest scandal in the history of sports and it would completely destroy the entire league. Anyone who thinks the owners are going to risk their billion dollar franchises to make pennies of additional profit is clueless.
wrong for them to fix games for entertainment purposes.

In fact I'm willing to bet that if the Raiders, Jaguars, Tampa Bay, and Cleveland were the 4 teams left in the NFL championship games this year, half the owners would commit suicide.

That statement alone shows how little you know about football. Oak, Jax, TB and Cleveland on the conference championship games? Really?

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

The PI call on Shields on 1st and 25 was actually a much worse call. They can bring Vegas into this, but there are frequently bad calls that cost teams games and cost bettors money. The difference is this was on the last play of the game. I wish the Packers would stop acting like they're the only team that's ever lost a game on a terrible call... probably happens 20 times a year, and 10 times a year when that call is made in the final 2:00.

 

[Wolfpack]

For those who don't understand wagering, the bookie makes a commision on every bet waged no matter who you bet on. Usually 10%. So if you bet a 100$ on either GB or Seattle you got to put up 110$ to make a 100. Bookie wins regardless.In the above quote it sounds like the action was top heavy on GB which happen on a handful of games every week in the NFL.
If a line look too good it usually is. Be very careful of the Pats this week.They are only favored by 3 points.Easy huh? Thats what they want you to think.That game will get a lot of top heavy action this week.

While I believe that hundreds of millions of dollars shifted hands because of the bad call, I don't believe for a second the action was as lopsided as some of those so-called experts have claimed. The whole point of the point spread is to generate equal action on both sides. The casinos don't want lopsided betting because then their money is at risk and they're just gambling like all the rest of us. They didn't build all those palaces in the desert by gambling; they did it by taking sure things. With roughly equal action, it's a sure thing the books will skim the vig without caring who actually wins the game (or, more importantly, who covers).

 

[Wolfpack]

The PI call on Shields on 1st and 25 was actually a much worse call. They can bring Vegas into this, but there are frequently bad calls that cost teams games and cost bettors money. The difference is this was on the last play of the game. I wish the Packers would stop acting like they're the only team that's ever lost a game on a terrible call... probably happens 20 times a year, and 10 times a year when that call is made in the final 2:00.

Exactly..... Since this took place in the lag seconds, it gets emphasized ridiculously more than any other play. Last I checked, touchdowns scored in the 1st quarter counted just as much as those scored in the 4th.

Nobody seems to be mentioning that GB was given a free first down in the one yard line, enabling them to score a TD when they probably would've settled for a FG. And if they only scored a FG then Seattle would've only needed a FG, not a TD, on their subsequent drive.