Meanwhile, Covid-19 havoc in the NFL is giving oddsmakers a fit. The NBA did a perfect job of Covid containment, MLB a pretty good one but the NFL’s has been a dumpster fire. The constant revision of rosters and postponement of games (the much-anticipated Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens tilt has been pushed back for the third time) is the sports book’s despair. Aggregation service TheLines.com aired some of the questions that are affecting the major books’ thinking: “What quarterbacks, and how many, will be available for the Denver Broncos? Where will the San Francisco 49ers play their home game against the Buffalo Bills? Will the rescheduled Baltimore Ravens-Pittsburgh Steelers game be played at all?” Odds couldn’t be fully posted on four Week 13 games at this time.
“Oddsmakers knew before the season that playing a full schedule in a pandemic would bring unprecedented challenges,” said Brett Collson, lead analyst for TheLines.com. “During the last week, though, we have seen just how pronounced those questions can be. This is a week when odds could shift significantly, and that will likely be a fact of life for the rest of the season.” With Lamar Jackson under quarantine, the odds in favor of that oft-delayed Steelers/Ravens game have shifted to 10 points in Pittsburgh’s favor. The Broncos are lambs to the slaughter by the Kansas City Chiefs, 13.5-point favorites. In a must-win game over the 0-11 New York Jets, the Las Vegas Raiders are preferred by only 7.5 points, with an over/under of 46.5. Whatever happens with Pittsburgh/Baltimore, the Steelers are 10-point favorites over the “Washington football team,” while Baltimore is expected decline further, losing to the Dallas Cowboys by a touchdown. One thing going for the Raiders is that the Jets have nothing to play for except the No. 1 draft pick that an 0-16 record would ensure.
In the nine years since it opened in 2011, Resorts World New York has raised $3 billion in for the New York State education fund, says the casino. It even hinted that it would be open to paying higher taxes, with Genting Americas East President Robert DeSalvio saying, “As New York now begins its recovery, we are proud to continue to provide critical support so that kids across the state have access to a higher-quality education, and we are ready to step up and elevate that support in both the short- and long-term for the state.” What does $3 billion buy? Maybe 12 million laptops for students or school lunch for a year for 6,082,725 students or maybe 37,500 public school teacher salaries. Whichever it is, it’s a good thing that gaming is doing for the Empire State. Genting continues to invest in the money-spinner, which generated $348 million for the state last year. It’s spent $400 million to upgrade the Aqueduct grandstand and will put another $700 million into 400-room Hyatt Regency JFK, scheduled to open in a year. Just imagine how much revenue Resorts World NY will be throwing off once it qualifies for table games.
