Online Sportsbetting Market Shaken by Tom Brady Injury

12-Sep-2008, 16:37

Before the New England Patriots' first game with the Kansas City Chiefs was completed last Sunday, everything in the NFL online betting markets had changed dramatically. Star quarterback Tom Brady injured his knee and was done for the entire season, and the staggering lack of depth at the quarterback spot for the Patriots was exposed for the betting world to see.

So how have the betting markets reacted to this unexpected injury? New England's current odds to win the Super Bowl have blown out to a whopping 14/1 on Betfair and other sports betting exchanges overseas. US-facing sportsbooks have suspended their NFL futures betting markets for now, but we can expect to see the Patriots in double-digits and possibly as high as 20/1 there was well.

If your pre-season futures bet was on the Dallas Cowboys to win the NFL Championship then you're probably feeling pretty good right now. The Cowboys were easy to back at 9/1 to win the Super Bowl, and while they demolished the Browns in their season opener they also benefited from the Patriots' misfortune, at least according to the latest futures odds. Dallas is now 9/2 to win it all.

The next two teams in the betting both lost in Week 1 - the Colts were routed at home by the
Bears, while the Chargers impressed no one with a last second loss (also at home) to the Panthers. Their failures probably account for why the Patriots are not at even bigger odds right now.

But are the Patriots finished? Debate has raged in the past as to whether or not this team wins or loses because of Brady or their much-reviled but equally respected head coach Bill Belichick. The Patriots have always put the team before any individual and this is the perfect (albeit extreme) test to see if that philosophy is resilient. Don't be too quick to count out this team, they might be able to withstand the loss of a star quarterback -- after all think back to how Brady got his start as a late-round afterthought selection all those years ago.

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