The NFL and Monday's start of the college basketball season will help mitigate some of the betting absence on the NBA, which was scheduled to open its 82-game season for 30 teams Tuesday and end with the Finals in June. Jay Rood, vice president of Race and Sports for MGM Resorts International said:
"The most impactful day coming up here will be on Christmas Day, because that's the day they get showcased before the end of the year."Rood estimates NBA wagering represents 15% to 18% of his handle, the amount of money wagered.
"It's a significant portion of our business," Rood says. "If we go without for the season, it's going to be something we're going to have to try and overcome — possibly exploring other options, like expanding some NCAA offerings. "Realistically, you're not going to be able to replace the action we get in the NBA."Bodog.com in early October listed 5:4 odds that the entire NBA season will be canceled. Jay Kornegay, executive director of Race and Sports SuperBook for Las Vegas Hilton, expects a major impact, too.
"We're a very big NBA house. It represents 15% of our handle," he says. "We expect about half of that 15% to transfer over to the college (basketball) game and the college football bowl games. We expect very similar results after football (is over) for the first three months of next year, if the lockout were to go on that long. "We really will feel it once the college basketball season ends in late March, early April, and we don't expect that NBA handle to transfer to hockey or baseball."Kornegay is already worrying about the handle for college football. He says Nevada sportsbooks lost millions the first six weeks of the college season, with the top 10 teams covering the spread at an "unusual rate" of 76% of the time.
The frequency of NBA games makes that league a popular play. Posting European games isn't an option because of the time zone difference and a lack of interest, even if a superstar such as Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant were to play abroad.
"You have games every night (in the NBA). A lot of people around the country might not think that, but here, it happens," Kornegay says. "We've got a pretty loyal, consistent NBA following here, so we're obviously concerned about it. We've already made adjustments as far as our forecasts and budgets."Rood doesn't expect his book to recoup more than 30% of the handle it loses from NBA games.
"We're looking at losing 70% of the NBA handle for the year and the associated revenue that goes with that," he says. "We're going to feel the pain just like every other aspect of business, from the stadium people to the bars, to the television revenue to the advertisers. "The ripple effect will be felt in Vegas. The weeknights are going to be tough."
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