- Joined ESPN in 2014
- Journalist covering gambling industry since 2008
DraftKings, in a special Monday Night Football promotion, offered bettors even-money odds on Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert to throw at least one touchdown pass against the Denver Broncos.
The odds of Herbert tossing at least one TD without the promotion were -800.
Herbert did not throw a touchdown, despite having 57 passing attempts in the Chargers’ 19-16 overtime win. According to ESPN Stats and Information, it was the most passing attempts in a win without a touchdown in NFL history.
Bettors who used the promotion on Herbert’s odds took to social media to express their dismay. Based on an anecdotal sampling of screenshots of betting slips, most of the bets on the promotion were small, ranging from $10 to $25. The largest bet seen by ESPN was $250.
DraftKings, noting that it is in a quiet period before announcing quarterly earnings, declined to provide any specifics on the amount of bets or amount wagered on the promotion.
Beau Wagner, a sports bettor who runs a popular betting community on Discord, pointed to a tweet on Sunday from FanDuel saying the sportsbook paid out $3.5 million on an odds boost on the Sunday primetime game between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. He estimated that DraftKings likely took in “millions. Plural” on the Herbert boost.
“There wasn’t any bettor I know, casual or professional, that didn’t play that boost for the maximum bet allowed on DraftKings,”
Odds boosts, as they’re known, have become commonplace in the U.S. betting market. For example, DraftKings offered a promotion on New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge to get at least one hit at even-money late in the season and ended up refunding wagers on the promotion after Judge walked four times and was held hitless.
A DraftKings representative told ESPN on Tuesday that the book had no plans to offer a refund on the Herbert wagers.
Editors note: Disney/ESPN parent company is a stockholder in DraftKings.
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