Refs call costs $64 million

[jmt57]

At the end of the Steelers - Chargers game yesterday, San Diego tried the multiple lateral play that as far as I know has only worked twice (Stanford-Cal and the Music City Miracle) over the years. Pittsburgh recovered and Troy Polamalu went in for a touchdown.

Blown call loses it for Steelers bettors

Time had expired, and it appeared the Steelers were going to win 18-10 (assuming they converted the PAT). That would have meant the Steelers covered the spread, which was 4½ or 5 points. (The heaviest betting action was on the Steelers to cover as the line went up all week.)
The replay assistant called for a review, however, and based on the fact that Tomlinson had made a forward pass, the play was ruled dead at the point Tomlinson threw it.

But the only way the play should have been ruled dead at that point was if Tomlinson's pass had hit the ground. It did not.
“There was some confusion on which illegal forward pass we were discussing, and it was decided the illegal forward pass hit the ground and that would have killed the play,” referee Scott Green said. “The first pass was the one that was illegal, but it only kills the play if it hits the ground. That was incorrect to have killed that at that point. The ruling should have let the play go on.”

But now it gets a little more interesting for conspiracy theorists. First, there is the fact that the Steelers were flagged 13 times in the game while the Chargers were flagged only twice (one being that final play.) But then there is the news on the money being wagered on this game.

Pregame.com, a site that provides information to sports bettors, estimated that $100 million was wagered worldwide on the game. Approximately 66 percent of that money was on the Steelers, according to the site.
“If the touchdown was properly upheld, Steelers bettors would have won about $32 million instead of losing big,” Pregame.com President R.J. Bell said. “This admittedly incorrect call resulted in a $64 million swing in favor of the bookies.”

Can you imagine the uproar if this happened in an NBA game rather than in an NFL game? And given how many Steeler fans are still convinced their losses to the Pats in the AFCCG were due to video taping and not poor special teams play or Roethlisberger's interceptions, I can't even imagine what they're saying about how the NFL is out to get them right now.

 

[drew4008]

I can't imagine very many Steelers fans are upset... they won the game. Many deadbeat gamblers, on the other hand, might be upset... but that's different.

 

[Watson's IQ]

Can you imagine the uproar if this happened in an NBA game rather than in an NFL game? And given how many Steeler fans are still convinced their losses to the Pats in the AFCCG were due to video taping and not poor special teams play or Roethlisberger's interceptions, I can't even imagine what they're saying about how the NFL is out to get them right now.

Real football fans don't care, they won the game. The outcome of that play was utterly meaningless from a football standpoint unless the Chargers scored, which they didn't.

Gamblers are the only ones affected by this, and I have a hard time working up too much sympathy. If it had affected the outcome of the game, that's another story.

 

[wpdougie2180]

Actually one of the tiebreakers for the Playoffs is points scored so it could potenially cost them playoff seeding.

 

[Kontradiction]

I can't imagine very many Steelers fans are upset... they won the game. Many deadbeat gamblers, on the other hand, might be upset... but that's different.

Chargers fans are probably doing what they do best as well: *****.

 

[Sivy]

who gives a crap about the outcome it had on betting.

 

[AStack75]

who gives a crap about the outcome it had on betting.

You can bet that the NFL cares. They know that their league is hugely popular because of all the gambling involved in Pro Football. Whether it's fantasy football, office pools, sports book betting... It is HUGE business and the NFL has to protect the integrity of it's game which is what that gambling (and associated interest in the games) is based on. If the NFL didn't care about gambling, the injury reports wouldn't exist.