Report Offers Insight On Sports Betting Traders
Sports betting has grown immensely popular since the Supreme Court overturned the virtual ban on wagering outside Nevada in 2018. Bettors around the country can easily wager on their favorite teams via mobile betting in the majority of states, but most probably take that simple process for granted.
The Wall Street Journal recently offered an inside look on how some of the country’s largest online gaming operators set betting lines and the live “traders” behind the scenes who make predictions on a typical NFL Sunday afternoon. The newspaper found some striking similarities to traders in the financial world.
“Sports-trading desks are similar to financial-trading desks on Wall Street, which enable investors to buy and sell stocks and bonds,” the newspaper noted. “However, the sports desks create odds to influence and entice bets in a live market where hundreds of millions of dollars are exchanged on American athletic events.”
Big Money Moving
Like life on Wall Street, trading can come with some real risks. A 78-yard touchdown on Dec. 3 by Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill against the Washington Commanders cost FanDuel $68,000. In total, Miami’s 45-15 victory registered a $1 million loss for the online sportsbook operator.
“You have good days, bad days,” FanDuel sports trader Will Twinn told the Journal. “It’s really about getting the prices right, and let the cards fall where they may.”
Beyond shedding some light on how the sports betting team operates, the report offered a look at the book’s high-tech efforts. FanDuel’s systems use a mountain of algorithms and data to estimate how things might play out on the field.
This is a round-the-clock enterprise with algorithms simulating every play of a game 10,000 times in hopes of determining the results. That includes statistics like passing, rushing, or receiving yards, players who may score a touchdown, and many more.
Traders are constantly moving odds based on what happens on the field. It’s a tricky job in which staff can see massive wins and losses for the company on a given afternoon, while also walking a fine line in offering odds that will entice action.
“Sports betting companies must strike a balance between protecting the business’s bottom line and setting prices – the possible winnings – appealing enough that customers will want to make a bet,” the Journal reports. “The more accurately a company can predict what will happen, the more money they stand to make. It is a science and an art.”
Sports betting has become a massive industry with football as the biggest part of that. The American Gaming Association recently predicted a record number of Americans wagering on the NFL in 2023-24, with 18% (47 million people) betting a few bucks at some point in the season.
