This Is The Beating Ronda Rousey and Sportsbooks Took
Ronda Rousey got knocked the f*ck out. So did sportsbooks.
Ronda Rousey released the following statement:
I just wanted to thank everyone for the love and support. I appreciate the concerns for my health but I’m fine. As I had mentioned before, I’m going to take a little bit of time, but I’ll be back.
This was a beating to end all beatings. At no time was Rousey ever winning this fight. Highlights below:
Holly Holm and those who aren’t fans of Ronda Rousey (yours truly) are the only winners here. Vegas sportsbooks were destroyed by those betting on the huge underdog Holm. Holm opened at 14-1 at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook and was gradually bet down to 8-1 in the weeks leading up to fight. I wouldn’t have bet her because of the Floyd Mayweather principle of safe bets in combat sports, but many people love betting small amounts of money on huge underdogs for large payouts in case things such as this happen.
“We definitely came out on the wrong side,” said Michael Grodsky, spokesman for William Hill, where 96 percent of the wagers backed Holm. Those tickets represented just 28 percent of the money, but any book paying out more than a quarter of its handle to a 13-2 underdog loses money in bunches. “We needed Rousey just like we typically need Mayweather when he is a big favorite.”
More money was wagered on the Rousey-Holm fight than on any of Rousey’s fights to date,, and about one-third as much as is typically wagered on an NFL game, estimated R.J. Bell, founder of handicapping website Pregame.com. MGM sports book director Jay Rood said that while the fight wasn’t heavily bet, most of the money they handled was on Holm. “We did not do well,” he said in an e-mail.
