Has there ever been more optimism around a team coming off an 0-16 season in NFL history than what is surrounding the Cleveland Browns in 2018? Some of that is the fact that the Browns were featured on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this summer. And to be fair, there has only been one other 0-16 team in league history: the 2008 Detroit Lions.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Despite just one victory in their past 32 regular-season games overall, Cleveland is “only” a 4.5-point home underdog this Sunday against a good Pittsburgh Steelers team. The Steelers closed last season covering just one of their final seven and aren’t expected to have star running back Le’Veon Bell due to a holdout.

The biggest Week 1 NFL betting spread is the New Orleans Saints at -9.5 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a number that jumped about a field goal at most sportsbooks when Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston was handed a three-game suspension for an off-field issue. Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick gets the call. Tampa has lost seven straight as a road dog, while the Saints have won their past eight at home by an average of more than 10 points.

The Dallas Cowboys have inked a sponsorship deal with a tribal casino operator, becoming the first National Football League club to take advantage of the league’s newly relaxed stance on gaming.

On Thursday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced that the Winstar World Casino in Thackerville, Oklahoma was now the team’s official casino partner. The Winstar family of casinos is operated by the Chickasaw Nation, whose governor Bill Anoatubby joined Jones at the podium.

The deal is the first of its kind since the NFL relaxed its prohibition on its teams having any marketing relationships with brick-and-mortar casinos. However, the famously gambling-phobic league continues to prohibit teams from having any connection to casino sportsbooks. Oklahoma has yet to legalize sports betting, despite wagering legislation having been considered in the previous session.

In a press conference on Thursday, Jones (pictured left, alongside Winstar GM Jack Parkinson) said his team took “great pride in aligning themselves with one of the best brands in the world,” and said it was a “privilege to stand shoulder to shoulder as partners” with the Winstar venue.

UK bookmaker William Hill and regional casino operator Eldorado Resorts have confirmed their blockbuster US sports betting and online gambling partnership.

On Wednesday, both Hills and Eldorado issued statements confirming Tuesday’s media report that the two had entered into a US-facing joint venture that will see Eldorado take a 20% stake in William Hill US, along with $50m worth of shares in Hills’ UK parent company. The agreement’s initial term is for a hefty 25 years.

Hills will become Eldorado’s exclusive partner for land-based and online sports betting, as well as online gambling, in the 13 states in which Eldorado operates gaming venues, assuming those states pass the necessary legislation. Hills will retain the right to operate online casino gambling under “any second skin.”

“Within weeks,” the partners plan to launch William Hill sportsbooks at Eldorado properties in three states: the Tropicana in Atlantic City; the Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in West Virginia and three casinos in Mississippi – the Lady Luck Casino in Vicksburg, Isle of Capri in Lula and Tropicana Casino in Greenville.

London’s Wembley Stadium will reportedly, have to forego future gambling advertising revenue, while the National Football League has apparently had a change of heart regarding casino advertising.

On Monday, the Times reported that the UK government would prohibit Wembley’s new owner from signing any new gambling sponsors. The government is currently negotiating a potential sale of the iconic venue to Fulham FC owner Shahid Khan, with the outcome to be decided before year’s end.

The government’s position was reportedly spurred by the Football Association’s desire to preserve Wembley’s role as the ‘home of English football.” Last year, the FA scrapped its sponsorship deal with UK bookmaker Ladbrokes following a review of whether such deals were appropriate for a major sports body.

Khan has reportedly offered £600m to acquire Wembley but those bucks won’t buy him the right to sell the stadium’s naming rights until 2057. Khan would also be prohibited from running permanent signage promoting the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, which Khan also owns. Khan reportedly hopes to install the Jags as a semi-permanent fixture of the NFL’s annual London games.

There’s no question that Week 3 of the NFL preseason every year is the one that most closely resembles the regular season. Most starters should play at least the first half on every team – some veteran quarterbacks like Drew Brees or Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger can be exempt – and perhaps even early into the second half. You rarely see preseason spreads higher than 5 points, but will in Week 3.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

This is also the final week of the preseason where the games are spread out over multiple nights as every club plays on Thursday in Week 4. One marquee game this week is the annual battle for bragging rights in the Big Apple as the Giants “visit” the Jets – of course, they both actually play in New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium. It’s the 50th preseason meeting between them, easily the longest-running exhibition rivalry in the NFL. The Jets are 2.5-point “home” favorites.

These teams will always be tied by the 2018 draft. The Giants could have taken a franchise quarterback like Sam Darnold at No. 2 overall but instead took Penn State running back Saquon Barkley. The Jets and their fans were giddy that Darnold slipped to No. 3. While Darnold is a lock, barring injury, to play plenty on Friday (likely start), it’s not expected that Barkley will play for a second straight week. He’s dealing with a hamstring injury.

While Week 1 of the preseason had the vast majority of the games scheduled on a Thursday, Week 2 is much more spread out – including the first Monday Night Football matchup of the season. Two games clearly stand out overall, though, and both are on Thursday. They could each be Super Bowl previews.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Of course, the Philadelphia Eagles upset the New England Patriots in February’s Super Bowl in Minneapolis in a record-setting offensive showcase. It probably won’t be much solace for the Patriots to get a little payback Thursday when they host the Eagles as 3-point favorites. New England and Philadelphia are the favorites to win the AFC and NFC again, respectively, so perhaps this is a preview of Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta on February 3.

Eagles star quarterback Carson Wentz missed the Super Bowl with a knee injury and won’t play this preseason, either, as he works his way back. Philly opened the exhibition schedule with a 31-14 home loss to Pittsburgh. Quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles didn’t play a snap, but should see action here. New England opened the preseason with a 26-17 home win over the Washington Redskins. Tom Brady didn’t play but also should at least take the field briefly Thursday.

Sports fans got their first taste of regulated mobile wagering while watching the new-and-improved Cleveland Browns demolished the New York Giants during their NFL preseason debut at MetLife Stadium on Thursday.

The Browns-Giants clash was one for the books for two reasons. First, NFL’s top two overall picks in the 2018 draft, Baker Mayfield and Saquon Barkley, made their league debut on Thursday. Second, the match was also considered to be the first NFL game to provide an opportunity for New Jersey’s regulated mobile sports wagering.

ESPN’s Ben Fawkes described the atmosphere inside the Meadowlands Racetracks, located a stone’s throw away from MetLife, to be festive as punters watched the duration of the Giants-Browns match in one of the six big televisions inside the FanDuel sportsbook at Meadowlands.

Punters are allowed to place their bets before the game, along with a halftime line, according to FanDuel.

NFL handicappers and oddsmakers will tell you that the first week of the regular season is the hardest to pinpoint because no one really knows what teams truly are yet.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The NFL has the most parity of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States, and every year a few clubs that were supposed to be good aren’t and a few that were supposed to stink don’t. Just look at the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2016, they were last in the NFC East. Last year, they won the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

The biggest Week 1 home underdogs for 2018 are, to no surprise, the Cleveland Browns as they are +6.5 against the AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns come off the second 0-16 season in league history and have one victory in 32 games under head coach Hue Jackson.

The National Football League (NFL) is seeking a uniform set of rules for sports betting following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) of 1992.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called on lawmakers to enact legislation that protects the players, coaches and fans and, at the same time, maintains public confidence in their games. He said sports betting should be governed by federal law and not by the state law.

In a nutshell, Goodell’s wish list to Congress include substantial consumer protections; intellectual property protection against those “who attempt to steal or misuse” their content; fans will have access to official, reliable league data; and to give law enforcers the resources and monitoring and enforcement tools against “bad actors.”

“There is no greater priority for me as the Commissioner of the National Football League than protecting the integrity of our sport,” Goodell said in a statement posted on the NFL website. “Our fans, our players and our coaches deserve to know that we are doing everything possible to ensure no improper influences affect how the game is played on the field.”

The New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles are not the only ones that have come prepared for Sunday’s Super Bowl LII showdown.

Bookmakers across the U.S. dished out some of the ridiculously insane—if not incredibly obscure and granular—prop bets that have nothing to do with the game itself but will surely provide absolute entertainment for sports fans and punters alike.

In fact, online sportsbook Bodog has over 20 pages of creative prop bet list for punters ahead of the much anticipated Super Bowl LII.

Will Tom Brady’s jersey be stolen again this year? The oddsmaker said there is 10/1 chance that the New England’s top quarterback will lose his jersey after the game.