What If the betting line or spread was established by four sports advisory companies without collusion or previous familiarity with each others numbers!
Lets face some facts concerning this number or point spread that usually comes from one Sports Advisory Group. This number is sold or distributed to the sports betting outlets fantastic online football gambling site and also the legal Sports Books in Nevada. These outlets put their little tweak on the line by 1/2 point or 1 point or even an extra $5 on the cash odds. Conversely, everybody will post their number which will be the same or in a point of each other. This really is the equivalent of price fixing and collusion in any other industry.
How come the Sports Betting Industry has the exact same price or spread on their own betting board? WHY – because nobody wants to rock the boat!
What if this process of establishing a betting line was not a monopoly but was provided by at least four sports consulting groups which were independent of each other. Each group would then post their calculated number for the worldwide sports betting outlets to buy and use for their operation.
This new mode of operation would unlock the monopoly that exists when the line is established. Now what happens? Would some books dare to post numbers that are not the same as others by 4 or 5 points either way. I doubt it since nobody desires to rock that boat. Is this collusion through the sports books so they may keep their share of the market and not create a price or point spread war.
The process of constructing the point spread number is probably done through a software program with all of the statistics as well as other information to get a base number. Then the particular number is refined to include public perception as to where the public will place their cash. It really is no secret that Sports Books speculate or predict at what number the public will be evenly divided.
There are a number of occasions when the line just isn’t even close to the final score. They do come close about 65% of the time. On the flip side, when the spread is minus 7 and the favorite wins by 21 points or even the underdog wins outright, their number is way off.
If that minus 7 point favorite is listed at minus 11 points at another outlet would there be a Revolution among Sports Book operators. Would this difference of opinion cause a lot of anxiety with casino management. I am sure they can question each others actions after doing the same thing together all these years.
For a true and balanced market to emerge in almost any industry, there should be some options and competition among the players involved. A Betting Exchange is extremely close to a more balanced betting market considering that the competition is against other bettors. The spread will be the same however the money odds tend to be better with more options.
If the Sports Books in Nevada and online books decide to re-arrange their Sports Book operations to include some alternatives to the spread, they are going to improve their handle and be more competitive. I would install some type of Spread Betting which is big in Europe. Allow more options with alternative lines and charge just a little more vigorish. Some online books have alternative run lines on baseball. They post the run line at minus 1.5 runs on the favorite and underdog in the same game.
The Sports Betting outlets need to become more innovative to maintain a marketplace share. We know they probably will not “rock that boat” unless one or more sports betting venues develops a rogue or maverick mentality. This could be a big gamble that could payoff and increase share of the market. On the contrary, it’s ironical that sports books do not want to be within the gambling business. They just want to collect their commission and avoid too much risk. They can be more concerned about the heavy hitters than the small average recreational bettors who lose more frequently.
Promoting or seeing changes within any financial markets is much like getting people to stop smoking or obese people to lose weight. Change is difficult for a whole lot of men and women and businesses. Since they say “talk is cheap”. On the flip side, I feel technology is becoming more prevalent in Sport Betting industry. Hopefully, it shall create a more vibrant market with better options and many more competition in the sports betting community.