Head of Football at Caesars Sportsbook: Lots of Lions and Bills Action So Far
According to Joey Feazel, Head of Football at Caesars Sportsbook, August is the month when you see the most futures betting on the Super Bowl and the divisions when it comes to NFL betting. On that front, the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions have seen a lot of activity thus far.
Cook Signs New Deal with Bills
"The Lions were close last year [bowing out the Washington Commanders in the NFC Divisional game, 45-31],” he said. “We’re seeing some preseason action this week, that usually is pretty good on the day of the game, which serves as a dress rehearsal for many teams who are going to play starters. A lot of bettors will be able to wager on their team, and be able to see, especially in the first half, how their starters are going to look for the season.”
With a packed schedule until Monday, the NFL preseason's second week gets underway on Friday night. During NFL weekends, the Caesars Palace Sportsbook in Las Vegas is crowded with bettors as they get ready for another NFL season. A representative here explains that Caesars must put up bleachers at the Vegas sportsbook to handle the excess throng as the playoffs and Super Bowl approach.
NFL Is the Best at Betting
In addition to the excitement of being in the sportsbook with hundreds of bettors at once, Feazel tells Casino.org that nothing attracts bettors like the NFL aside from March Madness on the NCAA men's basketball front.
“What we’re seeing is the NFL just grow and grow in popularity,” he said. “We’re going to see here, probably in the next couple of years, they’re going to expand another week. Then we’re going to have a President’s Day Super Bowl, to where we actually have, like a holiday on a Monday. And we’ve seen how this industry has grown and how popular the NFL is year in, year out, and that continues to grow.”
A boon to sportsbooks
It makes sense that the Bills are the subject of so much wagering fervor. The Bills are currently the favorite to win the Super Bowl at +625, just ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles (+700), according to Caesars Sportsbook. It is +1100 for the Lions.
A significant step in the right direction was taken today when the Bills revealed that they had signed a new four-year contract extension with running back James Cook, worth USD $48 million. Josh Allen, the MVP quarterback, receives some of the criticism from Pro Bowler Cook. The Bills don't need to be pass-happy with Cook on the team and that awful offensive line. Their roster is perfectly balanced.
Additionally, the team is highlighted on HBO's Hard Knocks this season, which puts the Bills even more in the spotlight for wagerers.
Perhaps more a reflection of the general parity in the NFL these days, the tale of the first three weeks of the previous season was more of an outlier, with six- or seven-point favorites falling at a frenzied pace and wild unpredictability that was a huge windfall for the bookies.
NFL preseason betting lines at Caesars Sportsbook. Image/Mark Keast
League Parity
“What usually serves the sports betting industry is the kind of randomness, the parity, that you can think something’s going to happen, and then the completely opposite happens, which happens a lot of times for the NFL,” said Feazel.
As usual, the previous season leveled out; starting in October, games became more predictable.
“We’re assuming that we’re going to see some more randomness and more variance in the NFL,” he added. “That’s the reason we love football, the fact on any given Sunday, any team can win.”
Changes to the Kickoff Rule Should Affect Totals
Feazel believes that the kickoff change, which moves the touchback from the 30-yard line to the 35-yard line in an effort to further increase kickoff returns and make touchbacks less desirable for kicking teams, will have the biggest effect on betting in the upcoming season, particularly on totals.
A team is more likely to score if the ball is placed on the 35 via a touchback if it enters the end zone.
“I expect the market not to really adjust to that immediately,” he said. “I think it’s a kind of a wait and see, because sometimes you think something’s going to happen and it doesn’t.”
Feazel advised keeping an eye out for the further expansion of live and in-game betting.
In-Game Betting Surges in Popularity
“In-game has been growing, gaining popularity, year after year,” he said. “I think there’s something fun to be able to watch that game as it’s going on and wager. I’ve been in the industry for close to 15 years, and it didn’t used to be the case. It used to be, all you could have was a second half wager. Now you can bet on anything.
“What really resonates with customers, growing in popularity, is micro markets – betting on the drive, some team to cross the 50-yard line, some team to score on this drive, or will someone get a touchdown on this drive? And it’s kind of that instant gratification, that instant bet, that you can bet on something and have a result within five to 10 minutes that really resonates with customers. Those bets are usually smaller stakes. That’s what makes it fun – as opposed to having $100 on a game you can have $5, $10 at a time on micro markets.”
Micromarkets Are Favored by Bettors
In honor of the game being played at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Caesars Sportbook sold thousands of Super Bowl props last year. When Super Bowl betting preparations begin during the playoffs this year, they will once more try to surpass that. Since the player scores a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, for a total of 8 points, the coin flip is always a popular Super Bowl prop. The fastest athlete on the pitch is becoming more and more well-liked.
When Caesars bookmakers offered the most unusual Super Bowl prop bet ever—20-to-1 odds on William "The Fridge" Perry scoring a score in Super Bowl XX—in 1986, they ignited the Super Bowl prop betting frenzy. The odds dropped all the way to two to one as the word spread.
Bets were placed on Perry prior to kickoff, even at that low of a price. A new age in sports betting began when Perry, a 6-foot-2, 335-pound defensive tackle, did score a rushing touchdown late in that game, resulting in a huge win for bettors.
“The Super Bowl is the big shebang,” Feazel said. “It’s your biggest action event all year long. And it’s something we’re always excited for.”
