PointsBet Refunds NFL Bettors Who Picked Titans to Cover Spread vs. Broncos

Posted on: September 15, 2020, 10:37h. 

Last updated on: September 15, 2020, 10:49h.

Bill Huber Read More
Expertise: Sports Betting, Sports.

Stephen Gostkowski taketh away. PointsBet giveth back.

The Tennessee Titans opened the NFL season by beating the Denver Broncos 16-14 on Monday night, when Gostkowski booted the game-winning field goal with 17 seconds remaining. However, because of the earlier failings by the normally reliable kicker, they failed to cover a point spread that ranged from -2.5 to -3.

Tennessee Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski
Tennessee Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski attempts a field goal during the first half Monday at the Denver Broncos. (Image: Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports)

Enter PointsBet’s Karma Committee.

Entering last night’s game, three-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Pro Bowler Stephen Gostkowski was the fifth-most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history,” said PointsBet communications director Patrick Eichner. “He missed three field goals – something he’d never done before in his 15-year NFL career – and an extra point, leaving 10 points on the board. It’s only right for PointsBet to have the back of bettors who took Tennessee.”

Thus, PointsBet offered full refunds on all Titans spread bets.

Good Karma

PointsBet’s done it before, most notably in the 2018 NFC Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints. That’s when an infamous blown pass-interference call helped send the Rams to the Super Bowl and cost those who bet on the Saints’ side of the spread.

This was PointsBet’s largest “Good Karma Payout,” Eichner said. Before kickoff, more than 80 percent of the tickets and about 65 percent of the money was on Tennessee to cover.

Being bettor-friendly has always been a staple of the PointsBet philosophy,” Eichner said. “We’ve never wavered from that mentality.”

Good karma never hurts. However, thanks to three big upsets, including the Washington Football Team (over the Philadelphia Eagles), Jacksonville Jaguars (over the Indianapolis Colts), and Los Angeles Rams (over the Dallas Cowboys), PointsBet enjoyed a strong Week 1.

“From our seat, it was a great weekend,” said Andrew Mannino, the senior sports content analyst at PointsBet, to Casino.org. “Two big upsets in Jacksonville and Washington helped the book a bunch. ‘Sunday Night Football’ also was a big win for the book. By game time, that had become our highest bet handle and bet count for the week, and most of that was on the Cowboys.”

More Week 1 Fallout

Some opening-week results meant rather sizable shifting in opening divisional odds.

AFC South: With Jacksonville’s upset of Indianapolis, Tennessee is the new division favorite. The Titans are +120 and the Colts are +170. The Colts started the season as the favorite at +115, with the Titans at +150.

NFC North: The Minnesota Vikings opened as a slight favorite (+150) over the Green Bay Packers (+200) to win the division. However, after the Packers dominated the Vikings on Sunday, Green Bay is +110 and Minnesota is +250.

NFC West: The San Francisco 49ers reached the Super Bowl last year and opened as the favorite to represent the NFC again. Instead, they were shocked by the Arizona Cardinals. The season opened with San Francisco at -105 to win the division and Arizona a distant fourth at +900. Now, the 49ers and Seattle Seahawks are co-favorites at +190, and the Cardinals shortened to +775.

NFC South: In a huge Week 1 showdown, Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints beat Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With that, the spread between the teams in the division widened. New Orleans went from -130 to -200 while Tampa Bay went from +160 to +225.