One Touch Down is Worth a Quarter of a Billion Dollars

The controversial touchdown call in Seattle Seahawks – Green Bay Packers NFL game on Monday caused a big stir in the American gambling news.

Most who bet on sports in US favored the Packers before and during the game. But the questionable call made by replacement officials caused almost all of the bets to be shifted to the Seahawks.

If the pass by the Seahawks would have been ruled as an interception, 3 1/4 point favorite Green Bay Packers would have won by five, covering the spread.

According to ESPN, John Avello, director of the race and sportsbook at the Wynn Las Vegas stated: “Most of the customers in the sportsbook were not happy with the final call,” said. “The shift was 100 percent. After the (Seahawks) score, all bets were reversed.”

Avello’s estimated that a staggering $150 million shifted in total bets worldwide on the touchdown call.

Jeff Sherman, assistant director of the race and sportsbook at the Las Vegas Hotel puts the shifted bets to $15 million in Nevada alone. According to Sherman, worldwide number, including offshore sportsbooks not affected by American gambling laws, is worth about 10 times more.

Mike Perry, spokesman for betting site Sportsbook AG, puts his estimate higher on the money shift between $200 million and $250 million.

Perry informed ESPN that 70 to 80 percent of the money on his site was placed on the Packers. The Mandalay Bay sportsbook took about 85 percent of bets on the Packers.

USA Today columnist and oddsmaker Danny Sheridan told ESPN that he thinks that worldwide a $1 billion in total money changed hands with the touchdown call.

According to Avello, it was not the first time this year that spreads have been altered by bad calls, saying: “It is the first call that has directly affected the outcome, but there have been many that have affected the outcome or the spread directly.”

The call also impacted the Packers’ Super Bowl odds, changing from 7-1 Monday to 9-1 Tuesday.