4 Things We Learned About Sports Bettingfrom the 2016-2017 Football Season
February 2017
www.chalklinesports.com
www.chalklinesports.com 4 Things We Learned from the NFL Betting Season: 2016-17
Football Dominates Regulated US Sports Betting
$0
$1,000,000,000
$2,000,000,000
$3,000,000,000
$4,000,000,000
$5,000,000,000
2014 2015 2016
Football Wagers All Sports Bets
$3.9B
$4.2B$4.5B
$1.8B $1.7B $1.7B
1
45%of total
legal handle
40%of total
legal handle
38%of total
legal handle
Although football as a percentage of total sports betting handle is decreasing.
Source: http://gaming.nv.gov/index.aspx?page=149
www.chalklinesports.com 4 Things We Learned from the NFL Betting Season: 2016-17
Vegas Relies on Football for Revenues & Profits2Football is the single biggest contributor to Vegas sports books’ profits.
45%
40%38%
50%
36%
42%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2014 2015 2016
NFL as a % of Handle NFL as a % of Profits
Source: http://gaming.nv.gov/index.aspx?page=149
www.chalklinesports.com 4 Things We Learned from the NFL Betting Season: 2016-17
Punters are Getting Smarter or Luckier or Both3“Horrible teams like the Browns, 49ers, and Rams failed to cover on a weekly basis because the spreads were too low. [Vegas] was too slow to make adjustments.” --Walter Cherepinsky
6.5%
5.5%
4.9%
0.0%
1.0%
2.0%
3.0%
4.0%
5.0%
6.0%
7.0%
2014 2015 2016
Vegas' Margin on Football Bets
Source: http://gaming.nv.gov/index.aspx?page=149
www.chalklinesports.com 4 Things We Learned from the NFL Betting Season: 2016-17
Sports Bettors Are Critically Important to the NFL4NFL TV ratings were down 8% for the year…but bettors propped up the numbers.
Fun Fact: Bettors watched an average of 19 more NFL games than non-bettors over the course of last season.
Fun Fact: Without sports bettors, the amount of NFL football watched would be cut in half.
47%
25%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Minutes watched
Viewership
Sports Bettors and the NFL
Source: https://www.americangaming.org/sites/default/files/Nielsen_NFL_Betting.pdf
www.chalklinesports.com 4 Things We Learned from the NFL Betting Season: 2016-17
“We think the integrity of the game is the most important
thing, and we believe that our current position is the right
way to be able to handle that.
But on the other hand, if changes happen, we'll be
prepared for those.”April 2015, ESPN.com
NFL ‘Prepared’ To Change
Roger GoodellNFL Commissioner
8
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