Sports and gambling go hand in hand and this is the reason sports betting in the last few years has picked up like anything. More and more customers wish to enjoy the thrill of betting on their favourite sports. When it comes to Olympics one can imagine this mega event of sports is something that everyone awaits eagerly. For the first time in almost two decades, it is legal for Americans to bet on the Olympics on the US soil. It is a time for endless gambling opportunities for gamblers but Vegas is finding gamblers reluctant to bet on the games. It looks like Americans don’t really want to gamble on the Olympics at all. Las Vegas gamblers who were able to wager on the summer games for the first time in six years have largely stayed away from the events in Rio de Janerio. Apart from a few bets on basketball and soccer sports book operators say that this Olympics has failed to attract gamblers.
Mirage bookmaker Jay Rood said We probably have taken about as much in Olympic wagers as we would on a big baseball game, regular season,” That’s not very much: Baseball is less popular with bettors than football or basketball. “The sports book is ‘getting action’ on the basketball and that’s about it.”
This downfall was already expected by the industry experts as they anticipated that the Rio Games would be a modest attraction during the lull that precedes the NFL season. As per Jay Rood, Vice President of race and sports at MGM, Nevada might see $20 to $30 million in bets on the Olympics and this number is just a fraction of the estimated $400 billion which Americans bet illegally on sports each year. As per Rood betting on Olympics has been equivalent to a big regular season baseball game, with basketball and golf getting particular attention.
Rood even wrote in an email that “The wagering may in fact by lighter than normal simply due to the fact that the U.S. teams are heavy favourites in a number of the events and overall to win more gold medal than any other country.”
Still, bookmakers are holding out until the Games end on August 21 and Jay Jonegay VP of race and spostsbook operation at Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook told Bloomberg that wagering could pick up when the basketball and football teams reach the knockout stages. Till then just wait and see.
