11/18/2008 - Bristol, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Bowl Championship Series is moving to cable, as ESPN has agreed to a four-year deal to broadcast the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar Bowls from 2011-2014.
ESPN will also broadcast the BCS National Championship Game in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The Rose Bowl, which is televised under a separate contract with ABC, is scheduled to host the title game in 2014 under the rotating system among the four bowls.
Under the deal, ESPN gets exclusive TV, radio, digital, international and marketing rights for all 15 BCS games. The games will be the first ever BCS bowls to be featured on cable.
"The BCS will thrive on ESPN," ESPN president George Bodenheimer said. "Our slogan is 'College Football Lives Here' and the BCS will now top college football's best regular-season and studio coverage, the sport's top awards shows, Bowl Week and other national championships all carried on our family of networks. This is a proud day for ESPN and an exceptional day for this great sport and its passionate fans."
The BCS's current deal with FOX Sports, which began in 2007, ends after the 2010 games. The bowl games had been broadcast on ABC since the BCS's inception in 1998.
<< Boston's Pedroia named AL MVP
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia
has been named the American League's Most Valuable Player, as voted on by the
Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Pedroia, last year's AL Rookie of the Year
<< Barca president expects to sign Xavi to extension
Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona president Joan Laporta has calmed
fears over the future of midfielder Xavi at the Camp Nou, insisting that talks
over a new contract will come to a successful conclusion.
The 28-year-old Spain
<< Schelotto wins final MLS Player of the Week of '08
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus Crew midfielder Guillermo Barros
Schelotto received the final Major League Soccer Player of the Week honor of
the 2008 season.
Schelotto helped lead the Columbus Crew past the Chicago Fire,
<< Deweycheatumnhowe set for Breeders Crown Final
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hambletonian champ Deweycheatumnhowe
will take on 10 challengers in the Breeders Crown race for three-year-old male
trotters on Saturday, November 29 at The Meadowlands.
Deweycheatumnhowe won two of
Zenit's Tymoshchuk linked with move to Bayern >>
St. Petersburg, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zenit St. Petersburg skipper Anatoliy
Tymoshchuk has hinted that he will seek to leave the Russian club in the
January transfer window.
The 29-year-old Ukraine midfielder has been heavily li
Texas Tech-Oklahoma Repercussions >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With three weeks left to play, there's a
chance that only three games could determine which two teams reach the BCS
Championship. Those matchups include the SEC and Big 12 title games, along
with this Saturd
Everton manager Moyes fined by the FA >>
Merseyside, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Moyes has been fined $7,500 by the
Football Association after the Everton manager admitted a charge of improper
conduct relating to his behavior during the Toffees' 3-2 victory at Stoke City
in S
Juventus goalie Buffon rejected Milan switch >>
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon has admitted
that he almost left the club following its relegation from Serie A just over
two years ago.
The 30-year-old goalkeeper, who is currently sidelined by a groi
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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