Clemson opens as 2020 CFP title favorites; Houston Astros open with highest win total

Clemson defeated Alabama 44-16 earlier this week as 5-point underdogs. The Tigers opened as favorites to repeat in 2020.

The SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas opened Alabama as the 3-2 (+150) favorite on Monday night during the title game, followed by Clemson at 7-2 (+350). After Clemson’s impressive performance in the first half, the odds were adjusted to Alabama 2-1 and Clemson 5-2 (+250), and eventually Clemson +180 and Alabama +250 by the end of the Tigers’ 44-16 win.


The Houston Astros have the highest regular season win total of any MLB team for next season.

With a close eye on impact free agents Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, Caesars Entertainment’s sportsbook started taking bets this week on win totals for the upcoming MLB season.

The Houston Astros top the board with 97.5 wins and are among four American League teams projected to win more than 91 games by Caesars, which operates sportsbooks in Mississippi, Nevada and New Jersey. The New York Yankees are right behind the Astros with 96.5 wins, followed by the defending champion Boston Red Sox at 95.5 and Cleveland Indians at 91.5.

The Los Angeles Dodgers (94) and Chicago Cubs (90.5) were the only National League teams with more than 90 wins as of Wednesday afternoon. The Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals each opened at 88.5 wins.


Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie spoke out against federal oversight of sports betting.

The Republican said Friday at a conference of legislators that states have proved they can handle the job. Christie began a court battle against the major pro and college sports leagues that ended with the U.S. Supreme Court clearing the way for all states to choose whether or not to offer sports gambling.

Speaking Friday in New Orleans at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States conference, Christie also urged lawmakers to resist granting the leagues “integrity fees,” which are essentially a slice of the action on sports bets, and said they should refuse demands to use official league data in sports betting.

To do so would be to “reward bad behavior” by the leagues, Christie said, referring to their lengthy opposition of New Jersey’s court case seeking the right to offer legal sports betting.


NBC Sports will offer alternate sports betting-focused broadcast for eight Washington Wizards basketball games this season.

NBC Sports Washington Plus will produce an alternate broadcast for the Bucks-Wizards game that will feature a free-to-play predictive contest with a $500 prize, along with real-time sports-betting data and statistics that will be displayed on-screen throughout the broadcast.

 

The biggest sportsbooks in Washington D.C., could be the professional sports venues.

Perhaps the biggest winner will be Monumental Sports CEO Ted Leonsis, who owns Capital One Arena, in addition to teams such as the Wizards, Capitals and Mystics, and has been an outspoken proponent of legalized sports betting. Because of league restrictions, Monumental would have to partner with an established gaming company to run the sports betting operation and effectively would serve as landlord to a sportsbook. Leonsis’s venture capital firm Revolution Growth has invested in DraftKings, but Monumental has not yet announced any gambling partners to date.

The eventual partner would be able to pay $250,000 for a five-year license that would enable the arena to host a sportsbook.

“It’s an exciting prospect to have a nice sportsbook right in downtown D.C.,” said Randy Boe, Monumental’s general counsel. “We bring about 3 million fans a year to the building, plus it’s a pretty highly trafficked part of town.”

The arena would have betting windows and kiosks inside, but the grander vision is for a casino-style sportsbook — betting, food, drinks, TVs — that’s accessible from both inside and outside the arena. Monumental likely would identify retail space around the building that would be open to fans even when no teams are playing in Capital One Arena.