By Daniel Behringer for LVSportsBiz.com
It’s right there on the schedule, a mere four months away — the traditional Thursday night NFL opener with the defending Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
As the schedule is drawn up, the Chiefs will host the Houston Texans on Sept. 10 at Arrowhead Stadium.
We can almost hear the die-hard NFL fanatic’s comment: “Can’t wait.”
But waiting is going to be part of the game this NFL season.
Waiting to see the full effect of the COVID-19 pandemic or whether cases and deaths decline. Waiting to see if there’s a second wave of novel coronavirus cases diagnosed in the fall, as is predicted by some health officials. Waiting to see if NFL games are played before a few fans observing social distancing or staged before tens of thousands of starkly empty seats.
Fans will certainly be ready for some football after stay-at-home orders. Oddsmakers, too.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal recently reported that Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook reopened its betting app for existing customers. The South Point announced similar plans and said it would accept sign-ups from new customers and deposits from existing customers. As of this writing, the betting app at Station Casinos LLC appears inoperative.
Las Vegas sportsbooks — Caesars Entertainment, Circa Sports, MGM Resorts and William Hill — maintained operations throughout the shutdown, the newspaper reported.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak made it demonstrably clear that casinos were not to be part of the first wave of business openings on May 9. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility that some race and sports books could be in operation by, say, late August or September, with masked ticket writers spaced 6 feet or more from each other behind the counter.
Regardless, the NFL schedule was released May 7 with the anticipated media hype, and the games stirred up plenty of fodder for betting enthusiasts. A few highlights:
— The Chiefs are -10 or -10.5 and the total is 56 in that inaugural game vs. the Texans. We can almost hear the sharps chirping now, making a case for the ‘dog.
— Tom Brady, who will suit up as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer, will be cast in the role of underdog for the first time in 74 games, ESPN reported. Captain America & Co. are 4.5-point underdogs in Week 1 in their late game Sept. 13 at the New Orleans Saints with the total around 50. The 74-game streak with Brady as a favorite is the longest in the Super Bowl era, ESPN reported, citing its Statistics and Information research.
— Also on Sept. 13, the Las Vegas Raiders will open on the road at the Carolina Panthers. The game is currently Carolina -1 at even money with the total at 47 at William Hill. But with no fans or limited fans, the game to watch is Raiders’ home opener vs. the New Orleans Saints Sept. 21 on Monday Night Football. That game will be the first NFL game played at the new $1.9 billion Allegiant Stadium at 3333 Al Davis Way, a hop, skip and a short Uber ride from The Orleans and its less-savory neighbor, the Adult Superstore, on West Tropicana Avenue. The Action Network lists the Saints at -4 with the total at 50.5.
— Later Sept. 13, the Dallas Cowboys are -2.5 vs. the Los Angeles Rams in what should be a widely watched Sunday Night Football game. The total is currently at 50.
Even waiting to see who’s starting at quarterback could be part of the waiting game for fans and bettors.
According to Vegas Insider, DraftKings has odds on who will start as quarterback in Week 1 for the New England Patriots, the Miami Dolphins and the L.A. Chargers. The odds on the starting QB for the Patriots, with Brady having decamped for Tampa Bay, look like this:
Jarrett Stidham -250
Cam Newton +500
Brian Hoyer +900
Jacoby Brissett +2,500
Brian Lewerke +10,000
Looking a little further ahead, the Chiefs are 4/1 to win Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
Right now, that seems to be a particularly long wait.