‘Up There With Our Worst Weeks As a Sportsbook’: DraftKings, Other Books Hit Hard in NFL Week 2

The book got beaten this weekend — at least at DraftKings, which will have paid out more than $10 million in net losses to bettors this week if the New Orleans Saints cover against the Las Vegas Raiders tonight as four-point underdogs.

“This is right up there with our worst weeks as a sportsbook,” said DraftKings Head of Sportsbook Johnny Avello, who joined the company in the fall of 2018.

NFL favorites went 7-7 against the spread on Sunday, but 13-1 straight-up, which helped bettors cash plenty of moneyline parlays and teasers.

Avello said that five games in particular were big losers, including the Seahawks, 49ers and Packers.

The Patriots lost by five and the sportsbook had a ton of money on the Seahawks -4.5.

Other big lopsided action was on those two 7-point favorites – the 49ers and the Packers. The 49ers beat the Jets by 18, while the Packers beat the Lions by 21.

DraftKings also took six-figure losses on both the Bills moneyline and the Jaguars, who despite their Week 1 win, were given no chance by the betting market against the Titans and took them to overtime.

“We were saved by one team — the Vikings,” Avello said. “Had they shown up and won — we had a ton of moneyline parlays on them – our losses probably would have been double.”

Things weren't all bad, as the book continues to be among the leaders in market share and handle.

“We saw more customers coming in and the handle was fantastic,” he said.

DraftKings stock was down 7% today on brutal day for the stock market, which fell more than 600 points.