We noted last week that enough bets had come in on Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to win the league MVP this season that his odds had shifted from 200-1 to 50-1. For one sports book, that means a big loss if Trubisky goes on to win the award.
Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sports book operations at Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, told the Chicago Tribune that the bets came in quickly when they listed Trubisky at 200-1 and the book will likely lose more than $100,000 on its MVP betting for the 2019 season if Trubisky ends up winning it.
“It was right from the get-go there was a lot of interest in Trubisky at 200-1,” Kornegay said. “That has really continued to a point where he is by far our biggest liability to win the MVP. When you’re giving out 200-1 odds, it doesn’t take much to create the liability. As it rolls in and you’re accumulating hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars at 200-1, next thing you know you have a mid-six-figure liability attached to Trubisky. And that’s the last thing I want to do is lose six figures on the NFL MVP.”
Kornegay said the money has mostly been a lot of small bets, likely from Bears fans backing their guy, rather than a few big bets from sharp bettors.
“I just want to know what kind of water you guys are drinking up there,” Kornegay said. “Is everybody drinking, like, Soldier Field water or something? What the heck is going on up there?”
There’s plenty of optimism in Chicago that the Bears can be even better than last year, and that Trubisky can take another step forward. If so, that’s bad news for the sports book.