Despite the odds continuing to inch closer together, Floyd Mayweather remains a comfortable favorite over Conor McGregor. But what if Conor wins?
Aside from being the biggest upset in sports history and the world never hearing the end of it from MMA fans, Las Vegas would take a gigantic hit.
Mayweather opened as a -2250 favorite when the fight was first rumored last November. McGregor opened at +900. Since that time, nearly everyone has bet on McGregor because who the hell would bet $2250 to win $100 when you can bet $100 to win $900?
With the fight just days away, McGregor is now a +300 underdog while Mayweather is a -400 favorite. Either people have money to burn or there’s something fishy about this fight. Logic says, “don’t waste your money” but logic goes out the window when you can make up to nine times the amount you bet.
Given that the majority of bets have come in on a heavy underdog, it spells trouble for Vegas books if McGregor pulls off this upset. They haven’t taken in nearly enough money on Mayweather and they’ll be paying out double, triple, quadruple, etc… on what they took in on McGregor.
If Conor wins, he may have to donate part of his fight check to Vegas books just to keep them in business after this fight.
Vegas could end up making some money back by the time Saturday rolls around. If the odds continue to drop in Conor’s favorite, I’d expect to see a lot of people bet on Mayweather. Even at -400, there’s plenty of value there.
In fact, Mayweather himself might consider helping Vegas out.
BREAKING – Trusted Vegas Source:
Mayweather seriously considering betting $5 MILLION on himself to beat McGregor!— RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) August 22, 2017
Who could blame him? If the odds get down to -250 or so by Saturday afternoon, what’s $5 million to Mayweather in a fight where he’s going to make $300 million? Hell, he should bet his whole purse on the fight if the odds get low enough.