It is now July 20, and, with a little bit of luck, the NBA, NHL and MLB players will be suiting up for games very soon – most likely between this week and the next. That’s great news for sports fans and, if the NFL can work out its issues, September and October will see a ton of action. Fortunately for many, there is already a lot happening, and online sportsbook Bodog has continued to be a hot target for gamblers looking to make up for lost time. This past weekend was another productive one for the operator, with soccer once again seeing the majority of the wagers.
It may come as a surprise to some that Major League Soccer came in first in terms of the league with the most action on Bodog this weekend. It received 19.9% of all wagers, followed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which garnered 18.40%. Giving soccer’s take a boost were the GT G-26 League with 7.3%, Italy’s Serie A with 5.33% and, in tenth place, the English Premier League with 4.91%. In total, soccer accounted for about 37.4% of the handle.
The PGA’s Memorial Tournament and NFL 2020 Sims took a big piece of the action, as well, at 16.53% and 11.08%, respectively. Spain’s Jon Rahm had a stellar weekend, taking the Memorial Tournament with a three-shot win to kick Rory McIlroy out of first place in the World Golf Rankings. Given that he was assessed a two-stroke penalty only makes the win more impressive. That followed an amazing chip shot from the rough on the 16th to pick up a birdie, but the penalty didn’t dampen his spirits.
As far as individual events go, the Memorial Tournament received the biggest percentage of the wagers on Bodog, taking 31.82%. The soccer match between the Los Angeles FC (LAFC) and the LA Galaxy in the MLS on Saturday took second with a distant 11.10%. LAFC captured a 6-2 victory, having been the -215 favorites going into the match.
Other MLS games catapulted the league to the top of action. The contest between Sporting Kansas City and the Colorado Rapids took 10.73% of the bets (KC had -107 to win and took a 3-2 victory) and the Chicago Fire/San Jose Earthquakes match followed with 7.63%. The Earthquakes were given only slightly better odds to win, but they pulled it off in a 2-0 shutout. Other MLS games finding a spot among the top ten on Bodog were Real Salt Lake vs. Minnesota United (7.15%, tie at 0-0), Columbus Crew vs. New York Red Bulls (5.55%, Columbus, 2-0) and Portland Timbers vs. Houston Dynamo (5.33%, Timbers, 2-1).
Two UFC matches found some action this weekend, the fight between Deiveson Alcantra Figueiredo and Joseph Benavidez (10.73% on Bodog) and the Kelvin Gastelum/Jack Hermansson match (6.89%). Figueiredo improved his Flyweight record to 19-1-0 after forcing his opponent to submit in the first round (payback for the second-round TKO he received from Benavidez in February) and Hermansson (21-5-0) got a submission against Gastelum after only 1:18 into the match.
MLB is expected to see players take the field in the new modified season this Thursday, followed by the NBA on July 30 and the NHL on August 1. While the settings are completely different than what is found during normal seasons, this isn’t a normal year, and everyone has to adjust. However, at least things are finally starting to come together.
