NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
Should Sportsbooks void players if they get injured during a game? Avid bettors on Sportsbooks have debated this since it became legal. With millions of dollars on the line daily for individuals and companies like Fanduel, ESPN Bets, DraftKings, and others, it’s time that Sportsbooks did the right thing.
Building a parlay or even a single bet is hard enough. Imagine having an 8-legger and 7 of them hit, but the 8th player gets injured during the contest, and you lose some money due to it. This is where the betting world has to be changed.
Yes, anyone can make the argument that injuries are a part of gambling. But is it? We’re not betting for a player to make it through an entire game. We’re betting on them accumulating a certain number of points, touchdowns, goals, or whatever. But injuries are something that’s not in a player’s control, therefore, why are we as bettors being penalized for it?
There is a way Sportsbooks can remedy all this. Void the player out. What it does for the bettor is lower the odds and decrease the winnings. It hurts like hell to lose out on a parlay because Joel Embiid went down in the 3rd quarter and didn’t get his over.
Fanatics Sportsbook has a rule that if a football player is injured in the 1st quarter and does not return, his bet is voided. That’s a start but it shows that all Sportsbooks can do it.
Everything is a risk but what we’re betting on is a player’s ability to hit a certain mark. If a player is picked to get 60 yards rushing but the opposing defense holds him to 55, we can live with that. But what we can’t live with is a player gaining 40 yards because he suffered a concussion or a sprained ankle in the 3rd or 4th quarter and he never returns. At that point, the Sportsbooks should void him out.
The bettor will get less money but they still have a chance to win. Imagine how many more people would be prone to bet if a rule like this was implemented. Sportsbooks are not losing money, it works out better for them as more bets will placed and in the case of an injury, the payout is smaller than the original.
Fanduel is by far the most popular Sportsbooks out and the only way they will void is if a player does not play in the game. The same with DraftKings, ESPN Bets and other popular Sportsbooks apps. What has to happen is that one of them will have to be the first to jump into uncharted waters.
Whichever Sportsbooks decides to be the first to offer this, will undoubtedly jump light years while gaining more bettors. We all want a level playing field and injuries, while part of the game should not be part of the betting world.
However, there will be drawbacks in a case like this. Let’s say that said player gets his over or even under then gets ejected or inured. Should Sportsbooks honor those odds? To be fair, no. We can’t have it both ways. That player should still be voided. We have to keep it fair all the way around.
