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Sports Biz
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Well, consider the fact that some sports books had the Rockies at 125-to-1 to open the season. How much of a longshot does that make them? Well, that same sports book only had three teams with longer odds - the Pittsburgh Pirates (150 to 1), the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (200 to 1) and the Washington Nationals (225 to 1).
The Pirates finished 68-94, the Devil Rays finished 66-96 and the Nationals finished 73-89. So for the most part, the bookmakers had that right.
But they obviously never thought the Rockies had a chance. At one sports book, a $10,000 bet on the Rockies on April 5, would have yielded a $330,000. (As a reference point, the Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki is pulling in $381,000 this year).
What makes the Rockies different from other against all odds teams I’ve watched in the past is that the odds of them winning--because of the big end-of-the-season comeback--were still low as the season drew to a close. Normally as big underdogs start to have a chance, the odds of winning increase, thus lowering the potential payout. But the Rockies were 75-to-1 odds on September 21st.
Now let’s look at how this compares to other underdogs. The data from 40 years ago isn’t that great, but as far as I can tell from what has been written, the 1969 New York Mets were 100-to-1 odds.
The greatest longshot in Kentucky Derby history to win it all was Donerail, which won its bettors $185 on a $2 bet in 1913, thanks to the 91-to-1 odds. There’s a much bigger field obviously in baseball, so it’s a bit different than one boxer fighting against another, but Buster Douglas was a 42-to-1 underdog against Mike Tyson in 1990.
And looking forward to the future. Many can’t stop talking about how crazy it is that South Florida is now No. 2 in the polls and the BCS Standings. Well, before the season, South Florida was only 100-to-1 to win the BCS National Championship.
UPDATE: Those of you who know me, know that I'm a crazy Northwestern grad and fan. So you might have found it strange that I didn't include the odds of my Northwestern Wildcats winning the Rose Bowl in 1995. The reason I didn't include it is because I couldn't find what the odds are.
But my ESPN friend and fellow Northwestern grad Willie Weinbaum (who was there for a four-year stretch when the team won one game) sent me an article from the Chicago Sun-Times--written in 1995. Before the season, oddsmakers put the the Wildcats as 300-to-1 odds to win the Rose Bowl. The team of course won the Big Ten Championship, went to the Rose Bowl, and lost to Keyshawn Johnson and USC, 41-32.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes