The unlikely NCAA tournament, hosted by Saint Peter’s, has left some sportsbooks with historic liabilities and placed New Jersey bookies in the unusual position of potentially having to pay out to an underperforming team.
The 15th seeded Peacocks could be found up to 10,000-1 to win the men’s national basketball championship before the tournament started. They caused excitement over Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue, became the only team to ever win two NCAA tournament games as double-digit underdogs, and are the first 15 seeds to reach the Elite Eight.
2 relatives
Ahead of Sunday’s game against North Carolina, Saint Peter’s won the national championship 40-1 at BetMGM.
According to Jason Scott, BetMGM’s vice president of trading, the Peacocks winning the championship would cause the biggest loss in a futures market – in any sport – in the company’s history. Scott declined to characterize the exact amount of liability, but the largest ticket to a Peacocks national title at BetMGM is $4,000 at 200-1, which would net pay $800,000. There are also hundreds of smaller bets on St. Peter with long odds.
The Peacocks are an 8.5 point underdog against the Tar Heels in the East Regional Finals.
Sportsbooks in New Jersey are prohibited from offering bets on colleges located in the state. St. Peter’s Basilica is located in Jersey City. Still, the state sportsbook offered odds on the East Region win but didn’t include the Peacocks as an option. Therefore, even if Saint Peter’s upset North Carolina, the New Jersey sportsbook would pay out all tickets to the Tar Heels as the eastern region’s “best finisher.” Sportsbooks in the state are not allowed to offer a futures market without paying out a winner.
On Sunday morning at FanDuel sportsbook, 89% of the bets and 73% of the dollars wagered on Saint Peter’s-North Carolina overall winner went to the Peacocks.