FanDuel Pays Out All AAF Futures Bets
Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports. Pictured: Keith Reaser
- The Alliance of American Football (AAF) suspended its operations on Tuesday, leaving those who bet on team(s) to win the championship in a bit of limbo.
- FanDuel Sportsbook decided to make a definitive ruling on the matter, paying out all futures bets as if they had won.
FanDuel Sportsbook will announce Wednesday night that it is paying out all futures bets made on the AAF Championship, The Action Network has learned.
The decision comes after the league shuttered on Tuesday ahead of Week 9 games.
Bettors will be issued credits to use on future wagers, not cash
The sportsbook said that the promotion will cost the book "just under $10,000” in credits.
"The AAF should be commended for trying to do something disruptive in the sports landscape, and we hope this symbolic gesture shows the players and coaches that sports fans everywhere appreciated the hard work and sacrifices they made for entertaining us with spring football," said FanDuel Group chief marketing officer Mike Raffensperger in a statement. "While we've declared the Apollos honorary champions, we think the biggest winners should be our customers and hope they enjoy their payouts."
FanDuel's greatest competitor in the mobile market in New Jersey, DraftKings, is still deciding what to do, with its head of operations Johnny Avello telling The Action Network on Tuesday that a decision will be made in concert with the state's Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Jeff Sherman of the Westgate Superbook in Las Vegas told The Action Network on Tuesday that the book will not pay out a champion because its futures bet was to win the championship game, which will not happen.
In the process of paying out all its AAF futures bets, FanDuel declared the Orlando Apollos to be the league's "winner." That jives with what head coach Steve Spurrier told local station WFTV:
"We’ve got to be the champs, right?" Spurrier told the station. "We’re 7-1 and the other teams are 5-3. … We started the season wanting to win the Alliance championship, and if they declare a champ, hopefully these guys will be declared the champs, because they certainly are deserving.”
The AAF shuttered after owner Tom Dundon could not get a reciprocal agreement with the NFLPA in regards to sharing players, something he said he needed in order to turn the AAF into a feeder league of sorts. The Action Network reported that Dundon lost about $70 million since buying the league after Week 1.
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