Sports books in Las Vegas are bracing for lower handle connected to this year’s World Cup soccer tournament, because the United States team failed to qualify for this year’s tournament. Handicappers told the Las Vegas Sun last week that the lack of a local rooting interest may see betting on the event decreasing for the first time in decades.
“Las Vegas is such an international city and the World Cup is such an international event that people are still going to be around to bet on it,” Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito told the Sun. “It’s going to be a tremendous event for our sports books, but the U.S. not being there is definitely going to have some effect.”
Jeff Sherman, manager of the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook, told the newspaper the dip in handle does not necessarily mean the books will lose money on the event. He predicted soccer fans will fill casinos and wager on the favorites.
“The books are going to need some upsets at least against the point spread, especially during the group stage when the big clubs play the small clubs,” Sherman said. “This stuff coincides with how the NFL goes. It’s so heavily wagered upon the favorites that we know we’re going to be rooting for the underdogs throughout the whole tournament.”
