Category Archives: Major Sports

Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo is set to find a new home in the NBA

Eastern Conference champions, the Miami Heat have emerged as the front runners to land Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo. The Pacers guard is entering free agency and has no plans to re-sign with Indiana for the long term.

Oladipo struggled to replicate the form that saw him selected the for the All-Stars in 2017-2018. The Pacers guard suffered a ruptured quad injury this season but showed flashes of form.

He averaged 14.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game in the 19 regular-season games he played. In the four playoff games the Pacers played against the Heat, Oladipo averaged 17.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.

Miami have plenty of cap space available and with 34-year-old Goran Dragic not getting any younger he could form a big-three with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Dragic is heading into free agency meaning that Oladipo could slot straight into the starting five.

Pointsbet scores touchdown with Bears and Colts NFL partnership deal

Australian based sportsbook operator PointsBet continues to expand its U.S. footprint, announcing partnerships with NFL franchises Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts. The deals with both NFL sides will see PointsBet become the official betting partner of both sides.

PointsBet will gain usage of logos and trademarks for both sides, with brand opportunities with both teams. PointsBet will also become the sponsor of the Colts Podcast and digital assets for both teams. 

NEWS: PointsBet is thrilled to announce that we have become a proud sportsbook partner of the @Colts.

PointsBet is the only operator to have inked deals with both the Colts and Pacers.https://t.co/DRloD3IIIE

NBA Finals odds: LeBron, Lakers big favorites

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

LeBron James led the Miami Heat to four NBA Finals in a row from 2011-14 and won two titles. Some believe James left after that 2013-14 season because he was never going to “run” the franchise with Pat Riley around. Now LeBron tries to beat his former team as the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat open the 2020 NBA Finals on Wednesday from the Orlando bubble. The Lakers are 5-point favorites for the game and -350 favorites to win the series. Miami is +275.

The Heat were the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and underdogs in both the conference semifinals against top-seeded Milwaukee and in the East Finals against No. 3 Boston. Miami knocked out the Bucks in five and then eliminated Boston in Game 6 on Sunday. The Heat are now the only NBA franchise with six NBA Finals appearances in the last 15 years. They are 7-3 ATS in their past 10 games as underdogs.

Rookie Tyler Herro has been one of the breakout stars of these playoffs. Herro looks like he’s about 15 years old but is a spectacular shooter. Third-year player Bam Adebayo, who like Herro went to Kentucky, also has been great in these playoffs. He has seven 20-point double-doubles this postseason, tying the second-most for a single postseason in Heat history.

Bucs beat Broncos to become favourites to win NFC South

Tom Brady starred as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers overcame the Denver Broncos with ease to send a message to the NFL that The Bucs might be here to stay during the 2020/21 season.

With the New Orleans Saints overcome by a final quarter surge by the home side at the Green Bay Packers, The Bucs moved to 2-1 in wins this season as they triumphed over the Broncos. With The Saints slipping to 1-2, it could yet prove a vital weekend come the end of the NFL season, and The Bucs have a great team performance to thank for the victory.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsXjpaIe1LY]

Bruce Arians was quick to praise his defense against The Broncos, but the statistics showed it was an all-round performance that was worthy of the plaudits. Outscoring their opponents 23-10 by the end of the second quarter, The Bucs cruised through the rest of the game, scoring five more unanswered in the third quarter before a stalemate in the final quarter brought about acclaim for the back line in the aftermath of the result. In truth, however, the balance was what won the bucs the game. Brady threw 297 yards, while Rob Gronkowski, brought in to reignite his formidable partnership with his former Patriots colleague. ‘Gronk’ very nearly got his first touchdown for The Bucs since his summer move.

Overtaking the Enemy: The Battle Between England’s Two Most Successful Clubs

The biggest mission in many sports is to overtake your main rival. In Formula One this aim might be literal, making the car faster and better to handle than the one you want to finish ahead of. In rugby, it might be to make your pack stronger and fitter than the current champions. In football, the demands of style and success are often focused on the actions of others.

They tell us different, football players and managers. They profess that they are concentrating on playing their ‘own game’, or ‘focusing on ourselves’. They say these things after studying videos of their opponents all week.

One of the most interesting battles to take the title in the world of football is the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester United. The Red Devils have won a record 20 top-flight titles, but Liverpool’s incredible success in the extended 2019/20 season earned them a famous victory, their first in 30 years, to bring up their 19th.

How can United bridge the gap between the two sides – which last year stood at 33 points – to limit the chances of their North West rivals of making it to 21 titles before they do? 

Presidential election odds: Who wins if vote is contested?

Just as we thought we were entering the home stretch of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, some wild comments from President Donald Trump threaten to flip everything we thought we knew about the election. With the first debate set to take place on September 29, we have up to date odds from Bodog, a contest from Fan Duel, and some insight on what will happen if the vote gets thrown out.

Let’s start with the big question: What happens if Trump tries to throw out the election result? Although practically unthinkable from a certain principled perspective, don’t act like this hasn’t happened before. The Supreme Court gave George W. Bush the presidency in 2000 before all ballots in Florida had been counted, creating precedence for presidential election shenanigans.

Trump’s administration, seeing that they are losing in important polls, have started to ask important states to consider ignoring their popular vote totals, citing a lack of confidence in mail-in ballots. They couldn’t possibly get away with it, right? Well, much like in 2000, such a move would likely end up in the courts, and Donald Trump is likely to get a new right leaning Supreme Court Justice.

Five votes could matter more than anything else to decide the next president. There are currently three left leaning judges on the court (Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan). Chief Justice John Roberts has been the deciding vote in most controversial decisions of late, and could side with the more liberal side of the court. After that, Joe Biden has to pray that someone like Neil Gorsuch likes him, and democracy, better than Trump.

Sachin Tendulkar signs on as brand ambassador for PFG

Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar has agreed to a partnership with Paytm First Games (PFG), to become the platforms fantasy sports ambassador for the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Widely considered to be one of the finest players of a generation, PFG will be looking to Tendulkar to help them capitalise on India’s lucrative fantasy sports market.

We are excited to announce @sachin_rt as the brand ambassador for @PaytmFirstGames #SachinIsBack

Read more: https://t.co/iTKdyHZ98B

Connor McGregor in negotiations to fight Manny Pacquiao in 2021

Retired two-time UFC champion Connor McGregor has announced his return to the ring in a mega bout with eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. McGregor announced in a series of tweets that he wanted to return to boxing against Pacquiao, with the bout expected to take place in January 2021 in the Middle East.

Anyway all water under the bridge who gives a fook.

I’m boxing Manny Pacquiao next in the Middle East.

— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 25, 2020https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

NFL Sunday not at all what many football fans expected

The NFL season has gotten off to a great start and fears of a massive outbreak of COVID-19 seem to have been unfounded. So far, only one player has tested positive for the coronavirus, and this is seen as a very good sign for the fate of the rest of the season. Week 3 will wrap up tonight, but most of the action played out yesterday and there was definitely no shortage of upsets and blowouts. Without a preseason to work out the bugs, the first three weeks of the season have essentially been the try-outs for a number of players, and a couple might need to start preparing for some changes. 

For the second week in a row, the Atlanta Falcons crawled all over their opponents and had the game in the bag. Last week, against the Dallas Cowboys, they were up 39-24 and had no chance of losing the game. The only thing left was to run out the clock – overcoming a 15-point deficit isn’t an easy feat. However, the ‘Boys did it, and won the game 40-39. Almost as if history were repeating itself, the Falcons failure continued yesterday as they blew a 26-10 lead against the Chicago Bears to ultimately lose, 30-26. It might be time for Atlanta to make a couple big changes. Fans aren’t happy, nor are those that took the -182 moneyline on the team. Fortunately, anyone who chose the Over on the 46.5 Over/Under and took the Bears at +155 is enjoying their rewards. 

The Bears started Mitchell Trubisky under center yesterday and he might not survive. After two and a half quarters in the game and zero production, Trubisky left in favor of Nick Foles. The replacement not only brought consistency for a quarter and a half, but he led the team to victory. Trubisky has to be feeling a little nervous. 

The Cleveland Browns walked all over the Washington Football Team (WFT) yesterday, just as oddsmakers had expected. Dwayne Haskins had more turnovers for the WFT than he did touchdowns – three interceptions and a fumble – and all four resulted in Browns’ points. Despite this, the WFT was actually up in the fourth quarter, but the Browns decimated the opposition and walked away with a 35-20 win. It’s the first time in six years that they’re above .500, and the -358 they were getting before the game shows that oddsmakers knew something good was coming. The Over/Under of 44.5 was easily surpassed, thanks to the fourth-quarter surge. 

Thursday’s NFL, NBA games deliver some surprises

Sports fans had a lot of action to choose from yesterday and there’s never been a better reason to argue for multiple TV screens in the living room. The NBA’s Western Conference finals are being decided between the LA Lakers and the Denver Nuggets and, while the outcome may have been predictable, there was still some amazing on-court activity. In the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars took the field against the Miami Dolphins in a showdown of two Florida-based teams, and to say this didn’t go the way anyone had expected would be an understatement. 

The Lakers were 2-1 going into Game 4 of the best-of-seven series and the 16-time NBA champs are looking to add one more to the list. The team already holds the record for the longest winning streak in the league – at 33 games – and continues to show incredible talent year after year. While the Nuggets were able to mount a comeback in the series to take the second game, the Lakers have rebounded to take a commanding lead. 

Last night saw LA take control from the first tip-off, never giving up the lead all the way through to the final buzzer. The Nuggets tried to find some magic a couple of times and were able to close the gap, but never enough to threaten the Lakers’ dominating offense. LeBron James finished the night with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Anthony Davis added 34 points and five rebounds. Those rebounds led to the Lakers recovering the ball 12 more times than the Nuggets, leading to the team getting 25 extra points they may not have counted on. 

The Nuggets didn’t play poorly, which is why the Lakers can’t relax. LA may now be up 3-1 in the series after winning last night, 114-108, but Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was on fire and scored 32 points. Denver has a habit of launching surprise attacks while behind and it’s not impossible to think that this series might be forced to go all the way to seven games before a winner is decided. Whoever emerges on top will more than likely face the Eastern Conference Miami Heat, who need to win just one more game against the Boston Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals.

Professional Fighters League strengthens WAVE.tv’s MMA portfolio through landmark content and distribution partnership

Premium, Quick-hitting PFL Content to be Distributed Across WAVE.tv’s Media Brands on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and

Emerging Digital Platforms

NEW YORK (September 24, 2020): Professional Fighters League (PFL), the fastest growing and most innovative league in the world, today announced a strategic content and distribution partnership with WAVE.tv, the sports media company for today’s digital savvy fan. For the first time, PFL content will be distributed across WAVE.tv’s social media channels, which collectively reach more than 200 million on Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and emerging digital platforms.

WAVE.tv will distribute quick-hitting PFL highlights, original short form content, fighter profile pieces and more across its growing portfolio of media brands, with added focus on its combat sports-centric brand, “Haymakers.” The partnership also enables PFL and WAVE.tv to work with brands looking to connect with a Gen Z and millennial audience, an added source of revenue for both parties.

Miami Heat one game away from NBA Finals appearance

The Miami Heat haven’t won an Eastern Conference title since 2014. They’ve done consistently well in their division, but winning the conference has eluded them, as has an NBA Championship, which they last won in 2013. This year, things are looking up for the team and it’s now just one game away from taking the East, with three games left in the best-of-seven series. They handed the Boston Celtics another defeat last night to take a 3-1 lead, and are closer than ever to an NBA Finals appearance. 

Last night’s game was poised to be a tight match from start to finish, and the Celtics were favored to win. The team’s ringer, Gordon Hayward, was out for the first two games due to injury, but was able to come back in Game 3 – the game that put the Celtics on the board. He wasn’t at 100% for the last game, but his presence was seen as enough to motivate Boston to grab the victory. Hayward was expected to bring much of that same fire last night, but he wasn’t able to find his rhythm. In the first half, he and Marcus Smart, another go-to man for the Celtics, went 3-for-12 – combined. 

The Heat kept the pressure on in the first half and moved up by 12 in the third quarter, seemingly a sign of the eventual win. However, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who had a goose egg in the first half, woke up and tried to put his team back in the game. He scored 28 points in the second half and brought the Celtics to within just a point as the game entered the final quarter. Boston would move ahead by a point a little more than halfway through the quarter thanks to a hook-up between Jaylen Brown and Daniel Theis, but it was, by this point, too little too late. 

The star for the Heat was someone that many didn’t think needed additional coverage. Tyle Herro scored 37 points, 17 of which came in the fourth quarter, to be Miami’s star. The rookie guard was picked by Miami in the first round of the 2019 draft, and he was on fire last night. Even Celtics coach Brad Stevens was mesmerized with his abilities, saying after the game, “Herro’s shot-making tonight was the difference in the game. Herro was ridiculously good tonight. The rim must have looked like the ocean to him.”

NFL odds roundup: week 3 lines & trends

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Week 3 seems WAY too early to announce the most anticipated NFL regular-season game of the year, but that’s pretty clearly the case Monday night when the Kansas City Chiefs visit the Baltimore Ravens, who are 3-point favorites.

These are the two favorites to win Super Bowl 55 – of course, the Chiefs are defending Super Bowl champions, while the Ravens entered the last postseason as the No. 1 overall seed with a franchise-record 14 wins but were upset in the Divisional Round by Tennessee. Baltimore lost just once on the road all of last season: Week 3 in Kansas City 33-28 as Patrick Mahomes outplayed Lamar Jackson. Mahomes was the 2018 NFL MVP and is the +500-second favorite this season. Jackson won it last year and is the +500 second-favorite as well. Kansas City is 10-2-1 ATS in its past 13 as a dog.

Just as Chiefs-Ravens could be an AFC title game preview, the other marquee Week 3 matchup is Sunday night as Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers visit Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints in a potential NFC Championship Game preview. It could be the last time Rodgers and Brees ever face off if they don’t meet in this postseason with Brees likely to retire after 2020. The Saints are -3 but 1-5 ATS in their past six at home against teams with winning records.

Forget soccer fans attending games in the UK this year, says Minister

The odds of being able to check out a Man U or Liverpool game in person this year just got really long. According to Michael Gove, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, the idea of allowing fans to attend games is about as far-fetched as Messi signing with Sheffield. He made his remarks during a BBC Breakfast episode yesterday, explaining that reoccurring spikes of COVID-19 cases have forced the option of allowing fan participation at games to be taken off the table. 

Not having fans at sporting events is a huge financial blow, and stadiums and arenas everywhere have been hoping that they’d be able to open their doors to begin recovering the massive amounts of money they’ve lost this year because of coronavirus-induced shutdowns. This isn’t going to happen in the U.K., however, and the thought of allowing test groups, at reduced capacities, won’t be seen, either. As long as new cases continue to appear, such as that involving West Ham United’s manager and two players, there’s too much risk. 

Gove told BBC, “We’ve been piloting some open-air venues and we do want to be able in due course to allow people to return to watch football and other sporting events. We need to be cautious at the moment and I think a mass reopening at this stage wouldn’t be appropriate.” He added, “We were looking at a staged programme of more people returning – we weren’t going to have stadiums thronged with fans.”

With additional lockdowns possibly coming from Prime Minister Boris Johnson today, the sports industry in the U.K. is concerned about its future. It wants the government to step in and provide financial support, including investments, tax relief and regulatory reforms, and asserts that, absent these initiatives, the continued restrictions will only further take the industry down a slippery slope. It isn’t clear if the government has any plans to provide the assistance industry leaders are seeking; however, Gove believes that the help is warranted. 

College Football odds: Week 4 lines & trends

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

SEC fans are the most passionate in college football but also the most arrogant as they believe their level of play is vastly superior to every other league. They probably are right. Thus, this Saturday is a holiday of sorts in the southeastern portion of the United States because the SEC kicks off its season. The SEC will play a 10-game, league-only schedule this year.

Alabama is per usual the SEC favorite and is ranked No. 2 in the nation. The Tide will visit Missouri at 7 p.m. ET and Coach Nick Saban’s squad will face a short-handed foe. As of now, Mizzou is down 12 players due to COVID-19 and two more opted out. First-year coach Eli Drinkwitz hasn’t disclosed which players are out due to the virus, nor should he. It doesn’t necessarily mean they tested positive, either. Bama is -27 and Missouri is 0-7 ATS in its past seven SEC games.

No. 4 Georgia is the favorite to repeat in the SEC East Division and kicks off at Arkansas at 4 p.m. ET. The Dawgs not long ago were dealt a shocking blow when projected starting QB and Heisman Trophy candidate Jamie Newman opted out. That probably won’t matter against the Hogs, who haven’t won an SEC game since October 28, 2017. That’s 19 losses in a row. First-year coach Sam Pittman has his work cut out for him with the Razorbacks, who are +26. They are 3-7 ATS in their past 10 SEC games.

Fortnite prop betting rising in popularity via betting sites Twitch partnerships

To say sports betting markets have diversified would be to redefine the understatement for a new generation on punters and investors. You can bet on anything these days and while betting caters for all types, from the man on the street who still wants to put £5 on Arsenal to win the Premier League to syndicates who spend over 10 hours studying analytics around one game of American Football, it takes all sorts. 

It shouldn’t shock you, therefore, to learn that you can now bet on Esports games. Week by week, many millions are invested in the gaming skills of players taking on others in games of Dota2, League of Legends and CS:GO. One game that some haven’t got to yet, however, is one of the most popular games there has ever been.

Fortnite has at any one time, an average of 85 million active players according to the latest TRN (Fortnite Tracker Network) figures. Keeping track of your own position in that pantheon of headshots, snipe kills and Marvel-related fun in Chapter 2, Season 4 is made easy by the TRAN technology, which assesses players skills in kills, ability for victories and all kinds of other analytic markers.

Now you can use that information to make bets on live Fortnite games via GGBet, and that doesn’t just mean betting on the straight Victory Royale.

Saints alive? Raiders prove there’s no such thing as a sure bet in NFL

Betting on the NFL is – even more so than the average sports bet – risky business. Some sure hopes can crash and burn, costing investors thousands. That certainly happened on Monday night as the New Orleans Saints took on the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2 of the NFL.

As you can see, it didn’t at all go to plan for the Saints, as they lost out 34-24 to a side they were more than expected to beat.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJeM_jLlWUU?feature=oembed]

Plenty of sports bettors had money on the line, including – one can assume from the texts, one of the best poker players in the world, Tony Dunst. The WSOP bracelet winner and WPT anchor put out a handicap prop bet on Twitter and ‘got the action he was after’.

NFL betting has taken a commanding league on the Bodog sportsbook

As had been expected, the launch of the 2020 NFL season has taken over the activity seen by sportsbooks. American football wagers have always attracted a great deal of attention, much more than other sports, and the start of the season earlier this month has proven, once again, why it’s king. Based on the numbers provided by sports gambling operator Bodog for this past weekend, the sportsbook is seeing a tremendous amount of action on NFL games. 

In a breakdown of the different leagues available for gambling this past weekend, the NFL ruled them all with 43.12% of the bets placed on Bodog. College football gave football wagers a boost as it collected 13.99% of the action, making football the clear winner among all sports. The NBA Playoffs took third place among the top-ten bet leagues; however, that isn’t saying much since it only accounted for 13.13% of the wagers. Granted, there were more options to choose from in the NFL than in the NBA, but this pattern was expected well before the football season kicked off. 

The number of NBA games this past weekend can be counted on one hand; the number of MLB games, however, was five times that amount. Still, MLB games didn’t attract a lot of attention and were only able to grab about 12.23% of the wagers on Bodog. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and its Fight Night saw a few bets thrown in here and there to grab about 3.98% of the action, while soccer, golf and tennis made appearances, as well. 

Sports gambling fans were most interested in how the game between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks would go, giving this game 22.68% of the action on Bodog. The Seahawks were the favorites heading into the game, and they didn’t disappoint their backers. They came away with a 35-30 victory to improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Pats moved to 1-1. 

Derek Carr and the Raiders roll over the Saints in NFL home opener

It took a couple of years, but the former Oakland Raiders are now officially the Las Vegas Raiders. The NFL team was finally able to make its move after the end of last season, ready to enjoy a new city and a new stadium. The Raiders played their first home game on the new turf yesterday at Allegiant Stadium and didn’t let down their die-hard fans or the new ones they picked up along the way. Not only did they beat the New Orleans Saints as the definitive underdogs, they completely walked all over their opponents in the second half of the game. 

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr was on fire yesterday, throwing three touchdowns and completing 28 of his 38 passes. Tight end Darren Waller was Carr’s go-to man in the game, grabbing 12 of the balls to rack up 103 yards. However, Carr tried not to show favoritism and was able to connect with several different targets as the Raiders secured their 34-24 victory. That kept the Saints on their toes, making it more difficult to defend against the aerial plays. 

The Saints got off to a good start in the game, scoring ten unanswered points early on. However, the Raiders didn’t let that, or several questionable penalties throughout the game, stand in the way, mounting a comeback that would see the score tied heading into the half. Carr produced four consecutive scoring drives and, when the action resumed after the break, his run continued. The Saints defense proved to be overwhelmed by the Raiders, unable to stop the team on third- and fourth-down conversions. The Raiders converted two fourth-down attempts, one of which resulted in a touchdown. 

The Saints, who now sit at 1-1 on the season, did a good job trying to mount a comeback, even if it fell short. Quarterback Drew Brees was able to move the ball quickly downfield late in the fourth quarter, leading the way for running back Alvin Kamara to punch into the end zone to come within less than one score of the Raiders. The Raiders got the ball back and started their push down the field, getting some assistance from a pass interference call against the Saints. With time running out, the Raiders set up for a 54-yard field goal – long by any standard – and kicker Daniel Carlson knocked it in. 

Football Survivor looks to add a novel element to sports gambling

Many insiders in the sports gambling industry have stated that, with few exceptions, there hasn’t been a whole lot of innovation in the space for decades. The introduction of prop bets has helped to reinvigorate the space more recently, but everything else has virtually remained the same. A new option has arrived, however, that hopes to shake things up a little, starting with the action seen in soccer gambling. Football Survivor has been launched by Olly Joshi, the founder of WantMyBet, and is determined to engage sports gambling fans by offering something different. 

WantMyBet is best known for its YouTube soccer channel and for being a “social network” for soccer gambling. The involvement in the market led Joshi to dream up Football Survivor, a mobile app that operates as a soccer pools knockout contest. Participants choose a team in a single game in the English Premier League (EPL) each week to win and those who make the correct selections advance, while those who don’t are eliminated. Simple, straightforward and to the point – traits enjoyed by many up-and-coming sports gamblers. 

If it sounds familiar, it’s probably because the premise is the same as that of popular “Last Man Standing” competitions already in place. However, Joshi believes that offering a digital alternative will make things more interesting and attract greater participation. Around the world, Last Man Standing competitions have been seen in office environments and man caves, as well as through some sportsbooks, for years, but Football Survivor expects to take control by offering an “instant one pick, one reaction” alternative that is popular with younger generations of gamblers. 

Joshi explained to SBC, “The football betting sector is heavily saturated with game mechanics that haven’t seen a great amount of innovation for a long time, and will be unappealing to Gen-Z consumers. Football Survivor is offering a fresh reactive take on Football betting. We’re taking betting back to basics with one pick, strategy lead, quick and easy to play game. In doing so, we hope to bring down barriers to entry and appeal to a wider football fan audiences.”