Relative to what most of us feared on Monday night as a worst-case scenario, the news we’ve gotten regarding Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin feels miraculous. His cardiac arrest on the field during the Bills’ matchup against AFC rival Cincinnati Bengals on Jan. 2 led to an unprecedented cancellation of the game, as well as a flurry of news coverage and concern for his well-being.
Late Thursday, Jan. 5, doctors at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center provided an update on Hamlin’s condition, announcing that despite needing resuscitation on the field following his collapse, his “neurological condition and function is intact” and that his communication upon regaining consciousness included a question about whether his team won Monday night’s game.
The trend toward a positive outcome continued Friday, Jan. 6, when we learned in a statement from the Bills that Hamlin’s breathing tube had been removed and that he could speak via FaceTime with his teammates.
The following week, the sports world and those close to Hamlin received the amazing news that he was able to leave hospital care and continue his rehab from home. The Bills posted an update on Twitter.
“Damar Hamlin has been discharged from Buffalo General Medical Center/Gates Vascular Institute, a Kaleida Health facility in Buffalo, NY. Hamlin was admitted on Monday and went through a comprehensive medical evaluation as well as a series of cardiac, neurological and vascular testing on Tuesday.
“Jamie Nadler, MD, critical care physician and Chief Quality Officer at Kaleida Health, and the care team lead for Hamlin, said: ‘We have completed a series of tests and evaluations, and in consultation with the team physicians, we are confident that Damar can be safely discharged to continue his rehabilitation at home and with the Bills.'”
Hamlin still has a long road to a full recovery, and it’s unclear if he will ever play football again. However, for all of the potential negative outcomes that felt possible in the handful of days following the incident, there is vibrant optimism for a happy outcome to one of pro sports’ most incredible and unprecedented stories.
It is a story with no shortage of ancillary angles—each immensely less important than the health and well-being of Damar Hamlin. With this in mind, we’re here to provide a brief update on the betting side of the situation, a relevant topic for sportsbook consumers across the country.
Sportsbooks Adjust to Situation
The NFL is almost synonymous with gambling nowadays, as most states have legalized sports betting.
One of those ancillary angles is the wagering impact of the game’s postponement and eventual cancellation. Announcements regarding the status of wagers made on the game itself came from most major sportsbooks within hours of its postponement.
The betting industry made sure the tragedy didn’t negatively impact customers.
So-called house rules for most books include stipulations that a postponed game must be completed by a certain time, either by the conclusion of the league’s week—which ends on Wednesdays—or within a specific number of days before settling or refunding wagers.
Given that the Bengals–Bills game will not be played at all, unfinished wagers made at the major books have been voided and refunded to bettors.
Live in-game bets that could have been settled based on the game action that unfolded before Hamlin’s medical emergency have been settled, with appropriate adjustments made by the betting sites.
Parlays bets were another bet type impacted. Let’s say you used FanDuel Sportsbook to make a four-way same-game parlay at roughly +6000 odds that included an anytime touchdown scored by Cincinnati wide receiver Tyler Boyd, who did catch a touchdown pass before the game was halted following Hamlin’s frightening collapse.
After the postponement, the sportsbook adjusted the parlay to void the other three legs of the parlay (a Tee Higgins anytime touchdown, a Dawson Knox anytime touchdown, and Cincinnati +1.5) while paying off the Boyd part of the wager at lower, adjusted odds. Most books followed suit, awarding payouts for any in-game wager that was settled while refunding wagers that couldn’t be settled.
DraftKings Sportsbook paid out a long list of wagers that could’ve been considered settled, including bets on which team would be first to score, which player would score the game’s first touchdown, the result of each team’s first offensive drive, and the specific result of the game’s first scoring play.
Below are the full statements from a few of the leading online betting sites.
FanDuel Sportsbook Statement
“In light of the NFL’s recent announcement that the Bills vs. Bengals game will not be resumed this week, all wagers that had not been settled prior to the suspension of the game will be voided. Any voided wager will be returned to customer accounts today.
Per FanDuel rules, if the voided bet was part of a multi-leg parlay, the remainder of the parlay will remain active with only the voided leg removed and the price adjusted to reflect fewer total legs. FanDuel continues to send thoughts and prayers to Damar Hamlin and his family for a full recovery.”
DraftKings Sportsbook Statement
“Everyone at Draftkings continues to keep Damar Hamlin in our thoughts and prayers. With the NFL announcing the Bills-Bengals game will not be resuming this week, per our house rules, all wagers on the game that have not been determined, such as spreads and moneylines, have been voided.”
BetMGM Sportsbook Statement
“Following the NFL’s announcement that the Bills-Bengals game will not be completed this week, we will void all unsettled wagers from the game and refunds will be returned within the next 24 hours. This includes cash wagers, free bets and site credit.
Per BetMGM house rules, if the voided/refunded bet was part of a multi-game parlay, the remaining legs of the parlay will continue to stay active with only the refunded leg removed. The price of the parlay will then change to reflect the new parlay with fewer total legs. We continue to keep Damar Hamlin & his family in our prayers.”
Ohio Sports Betting
With legal sports betting in Ohio becoming a reality on New Year’s Day, the day before the Bengals–Bills game at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, many online sportsbooks offered new Buckeye State users promotions to entice them to register and deposit.
FanDuel drew in new customers with a new state special boost of +100 odds on a maximum $100 bet if at least one point was scored in the Bengals–Bills game. Essentially, you couldn’t lose this bet. Since the Boyd touchdown satisfied this wager, bettors who took advantage were paid out accordingly.
Bet365 Sportsbook, another online shop live in Ohio, paid out the Joe Burrow one or more TD passes odds boost it offered to new Ohio customers, while Betfred Sportsbook voided the Bengals +26 odds boost it offered to Ohio-based bettors.
Other sportsbooks made similar adjustments.
Futures Bets & Win Totals
With the NFL nearing the final week of its 2022-23 regular season, many bettors are looking at cashing tickets based on futures wagers and season win–loss totals.
The good news is that there should be no uncertainty regarding win-total wagers on the Bengals and Bills. The sportsbooks were able to avoid issues on this front.
Nearly every betting site had Cincinnati’s preseason over/under win total at either 9.5 or 10 and Buffalo’s at 11.5. Both teams have cleared those totals, so wagers on the over should cash at most parlors if they haven’t already.
AFC North Payouts
Cincinnati has already won the AFC North championship, regardless of the outcome of the week 18 game between the Bengals and Ravens. DraftKings is among the major sportsbooks paying out wagers on Cincinnati winning its division.
The cancellation of Cincinnati’s game against Buffalo officially ended the AFC North title race, with the Bengals being declared division champions regardless of the outcome of their week 18 home game against the Baltimore Ravens.
That regular-season finale in Cincinnati still has meaning. If the Ravens beat the Bengals for a second time, there would be a coin flip to determine the venue for a Cincinnati-Baltimore playoff game if the two teams were matched against each other.
A week 18 victory for Baltimore could also be welcome news for bettors who made wagers on the Ravens to win the AFC North since the Bengals-Bills cancellation would keep an 11-win Ravens team from winning its head-to-head tiebreaker for the division championship. On Friday, one major sports-betting company announced what a second Baltimore victory would mean for customers who made wagers on the Ravens to win the division.
“With the news that the Week 17 Buffalo Bills vs. Cincinnati Bengals (game) will not resume and has been canceled, the Cincinnati Bengals are winners of the AFC North,” DraftKings said in a statement. “For bets placed on the DraftKings digital sportsbook, as per the rules, all wagers on the AFC North will stand with the Cincinnati Bengals paid out as the Division Winner.”
“Since the Baltimore Ravens would have had a chance at claiming the division title had the Bengals lost to the Bills, should the Ravens defeat the Bengals in their Week 18 matchup, bets placed on the Baltimore Ravens to win the AFC North will also be paid out as winners. If applicable, these credits will be applied to accounts within 48 hours. Based on the outcome of Week 18 games, we will potentially review other markets affected by the cancellation of Bills vs. Bengals.”
Super Bowl Bets
Futures bets that have been placed on outcomes such as Super Bowl champion and postseason awards will be unaffected. However, odds will shift based on new seeding procedures and the possibility of playoff games being staged at neutral sites.
Each sportsbook maintains its own house rules, which bettors should always familiarize themselves with before wagering.
Most sports-betting companies have strict rules that a futures bet involving a given team will only cash if it plays its entire 17-game schedule. For example, if a bettor made a preseason wager on the Bengals winning exactly 12 games and the Bengals finished their newly-adjusted schedule with a 12-4 record, the book could refuse to pay off the wager because the 17-game requirement wasn’t met.
It will be interesting to see if betting companies follow the NFL’s lead and amend their rules given this season’s extenuating circumstances. In the meantime, we continue to hope for Hamlin’s speedy recovery.
Sept. 11, 2001: Postponements vs. Cancellations
The Bengals-Bills cancellation hardly represents the first time the NFL has had to make drastic changes to its schedule that affected bettors.
The league did stage every game during the pandemic-interrupted seasons of 2020 and 2021, but not without some postponements. The dates of 15 games were changed in 2020, and three games were moved in 2021. In nearly every case, wagers on the affected games stood despite the scheduling change.
Before the pandemic, the last large-scale scheduling change came in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, when every American-based professional sports league ceased playing games. The NFL moved its entire Week 2 slate to the end of the season and slid back the whole postseason schedule, including Super Bowl XXXVI.
Most Las Vegas sportsbooks that took wagers on Week 2 before the schedule was moved kept those tickets in play, announcing in 2001’s pre-social media age that in the event of the games being canceled entirely, bettors could refund nullified wagers at the cashier’s window.
Editor’s note: This article will be updated as more information comes in. Stay tuned for more coverage.
