With the return of the NFL, player props are back in the limelight. Unfortunately, that also means injuries, resulting in players missing time and being unable to finish games. Luckily, bettors have been reaping the benefits of Fanatics Sportsbook's Fair Play policy to the tune of $48 million dollars, including $16 million already this year.
The most notable use of the policy in NFL Week 1 was the injury to the Seattle Seahawks' Sam Darnold. The Seahawks' starting quarterback was ruled out with a hip injury just five plays into the NFL's season opener on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
Overall, the Fanatics Fair Play policy was activated on 10 first-half injuries in Week 1, resulting in $1.3 million in FanCash payouts.
Fanatics Fair Play policy states that if a player exits a game due to injury and is ruled out for the remainder of the game, they will refund straight player prop bets and void the legs of same-game parlays involving the injured player. Those SGPs then pay out with recalculated odds.
Fair Play Max showed off one of its other benefits in that season opener when New England Patriots star wideout A.J. Brown left the game and did not return with an ankle injury in the third quarter. Nearly 2,500 users applied the 2nd Half Protection Token, resulting in $186k returned to users.
But injuries aren't the only thing that the Fanatics policy covers. There were 11 instances over the weekend where the Forward Progress part of the policy was enabled. The biggest of which was $124,000 in payouts on MarShawn Lloyd's 40+ rushing yards.
The Green Bay Packers running back hit the 40-yard mark in the fourth quarter, but was smoked in the backfield for a 3-yard loss on his final carry of the game. However, that final carry didn't matter as Fanatics' Forward Progress Protection kicked in.
Forward Progress Protection saves player prop overs from being ruined by late-game negative yardage. If a player goes over his line, Forward Progress Protection makes sure that over counts.
Fanatics took it one step further this weekend, refunding nearly 17,000 wagers that didn't apply the Protection Token as a goodwill gesture, totaling $1.4 million in FanCash payouts.
Week 1 showed how Fanatics Fair Play will be a valuable resource for NFL bettors this FL season.
