The NBA, NHL and MLB are about to reboot their seasons, all of which were canceled due to the coronavirus. MLS has already gotten underway, becoming the first major U.S. sports organization to take to the field. As all of these start to get rolling, the NFL should be next, if it can launch in September, and sports fans will finally be able to get their fix. Sportsbooks are just as anxious as anyone to see sports action come back to life, but many are about to go into the market completely blind. Some even refer to the upcoming sports gambling activity as a complete crapshoot.
For generations, putting up lines has been a fairly routine activity – oversimplifying things, there are two teams, one viewed as having better chances to beat the other. Parlay bets came in and added a new component that livened things up a bit and attracted a lot of attention. However, the coronavirus is forcing sportsbooks to take a look at how they set up their lines, as things like empty stadiums, positive coronavirus tests for athletes and much more impact the outcome of a game. According to Nick Bogdanovich of William Hill U.S., sportsbooks can expect what’s coming to be a “complete crapshoot with all the unknowns.” He adds, “We’re just going to have to react as fast as humanly possible. It’s going to be a wild time.”
Sportsbooks base their positions on analysis and instincts – two concepts that are intrinsically intertwined in the sports gambling world. However, it’s difficult to provide proper analysis when there has never been a situation like the one sports is currently facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That changes the panorama completely, and oddsmakers will have to be prepared to make adjustments on the fly in order to stay ahead.
The director of operations at DraftKings, Johnny Avello, shares Bogdanovich’s concerns. He asserts, “The totals are a little tricky. We don’t know what that’s going to be like without fans in the stands. Is that going to make [teams] score more than they would normally score because they are focused? Or is it going to be less because their momentum isn’t driven [by the roar of a crowd?] That is something we’re going to keep a close eye on.”
In the case of MLB, there is no hub for games like what has been seen with the NHL and NBA. This means that teams will play home and away games like they always have. Home teams are sometimes given an advantage because they play in front of their own fans, which can throw off the visiting teams, and are more accustomed to the ballpark. However, there are no fans this year and, in the case of the Toronto Blue Jays, there’s not even a home field. It usually plays at Rogers Centre but, because the team has to travel to and from the U.S., it has been banned from playing games at the stadium.
That will force changes in odds, as well, depending on where the Blue Jays end up. It isn’t possible to know what’s going to happen, and sportsbooks will just have to take it day by day. They certainly have their work cut out for them.
