Everything that happens in sports has additional context when viewed from a betting perspective. From season-changing injuries to record-setting moments and so much more, the news cycle will constantly and significantly affect the sports betting industry.
Our betting buzz file, with contributions from David Purdum, Doug Greenberg and others, aims to provide fans a look at the sports betting stories that are driving the conversation.
Key links: Sports betting home | MLB odds page | NFL odds page
NBA odds page | NHL odds page | ESPN BET
July 22: Cowboys’ season win total at sportsbooks lowest in over 20 years
David Purdum: Oddsmakers’ expectations for the Dallas Cowboys haven’t been this low in over 20 years.
The Cowboys’ season win total opened at 8.5 in March at ESPN BET. That number would last only a few days, as enough money was bet on the under to cause the number to drop to 7.5, where it stands as Dallas prepares to kick off training camp. It’s the lowest preseason win total for a Cowboys team since 2003.
The betting action, however, has been lopsided on the over since ESPN BET moved down to 7.5, with greater than 85% of the bets on Dallas to reach at least eight wins.
The Cowboys are 50-1 to win the Super Bowl and 25-1 to win the NFC — both their longest preseason odds since 2014 — and they are heavy favorites (-240) to miss the playoffs.
Seventeen teams have attracted more money wagered to win the Super Bowl than the Cowboys at ESPN BET.
Odds & Ends
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More money has been bet on the over on the Kansas City Chiefs’ season win total (11.5) at ESPN BET than has been bet on any other team this offseason.
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Nine of the 10 most popular season win total bets by money wagered at ESPN BET are overs. Under 5.5 wins for the New York Giants is the only under to crack the top 10.
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The Buffalo Bills have attracted the most Super Bowl bets, but the defending-champion Philadelphia Eagles have garnered the most money wagered to win the Super Bowl at ESPN BET.
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The teams that have attracted the least amount of money to win the Super Bowl: Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans.
July 15: Manfred: Some bet types “unnecessary, vulnerable”
Purdum: Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred remains a proponent of the legal sports betting market but worries that certain types of wagers offered by modern sportsbooks are vulnerable to corruption.
“There are certain types of bets that strike me as unnecessary and particularly vulnerable, things where it’s one single act doesn’t affect the outcome necessarily,” Manfred told reporters Tuesday according to the Associated Press.
Manfred’s comments ahead of the All-Star Game come 12 days after Major League Baseball put Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz on paid leave amid an investigation into unusual betting activity on select pitches by Ortiz.
IC360, a firm that monitors the betting market for irregularities, sent an alert to the gambling industry June 27, after a sportsbook noticed “suspicious” betting interest on Ortiz’s first pitches in select innings. The alert, obtained by ESPN, said betting accounts in New Jersey, New York and Ohio wagered on Ortiz’s first pitches in select innings to be a ball or hit by pitch in two games: June 15 against the Seattle Mariners and June 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals. Both pitches ended up being outside the strike zone.
Such betting markets are referred to as microbets and can be placed throughout games, including on the result of an at-bat or individual pitch.
Nic Larson, a 39-year-old avid baseball bettor from Tennessee, has been betting on the outcome of first pitches, the over/under on pitch velocity and other micro-markets being offered by some sportsbooks. Larson, who works as a handicapper for popular betting Discord “Goldboys,” told ESPN that the popularity of betting on individual pitches is growing, but most people are betting “$10 or $25.”
“You can’t max out these types of things,” Larson told ESPN, noting that his maximum bet limit on a first pitch during a recent game at FanDuel is $500. “No one is putting something crazy on these.”
Still, enough money was bet on the Ortiz pitches in question to raise alarms. Source say sportsbook accounts in Ohio, New Jersey and New York placed bets Ortiz’s first pitches to be outside the strike zone ahead of the bottom of the second inning against the Mariners and the top of the third inning against the Cardinals.
“I know there was a lot of sports betting, tons of it that went on illegally and we had no idea, no idea what threats there were to the integrity of the play because it was all not transparent,” Manfred said. “I firmly believe that the transparency and monitoring that we have in place now, as a result of the legalization and the partnerships that we’ve made, puts us in a better position to protect baseball than we were in before.”
Ortiz, who has not been accused of any wrong-doing, remains on paid leave through Thursday.
July 8: Thunder open with highest win total since Durant-era Warriors
Purdum: The Oklahoma City Thunder opened with the highest over/under win total posted by sportsbooks since Kevin Durant was suiting up for the Golden State Warriors.
The Thunder’s win total was at 62.5 at ESPN BET, the highest of any team since the Warriors in 2018-19, according to SportsOddsHistory.com. Oklahoma City went an NBA-best 68-14 during the last regular season, en route to winning the franchise’s first championship.
The Thunder are the clear-cut favorites to win next year’s title, listed at +260 at ESPN BET, and have separated themselves from other contenders, according to oddsmakers. The Cleveland Cavaliers, at 55.5, have the second-highest win total at ESPN BET, followed closely by the Houston Rockets at 54.5.
It’s the highest win total for the Rockets — who added Durant this offseason — since the 2017-18 season.
The New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets each opened at 53.5, with the Orlando Magic (51.5) and Minnesota Timberwolves (50.5) rounding out the teams with win totals greater than 50.
The Boston Celtics opened at 43.5, their lowest total since 2014-15 and 15 games lower than last season, a reflection of the impact of Jayson Tatum’s injury. Tatum suffered an Achillies injury in the playoffs and is expected to miss potentially all of the regular season.
The Indiana Pacers, which took the Thunder to Game 7 of the NBA Finals last month before seeing their star Tyrese Haliburton leave with an Achilles injury that will cost him all of 2025-26, opened at 39.5.
The Utah Jazz opened at 18.5, the lowest of any team since the 2014-15 Philadelphia 76ers (16).
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