How Sportsbooks Tend To Handle Changes Like Bills-Browns Relocation

For many football enthusiasts, the NFL’s decision to relocate Sunday’s game between the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns carried one money-hungry question: “What about my bets?!”

The answer to that question, as shared by Action Network’s Avery Zimmerman on Thursday evening, likely comes down to the sportsbook each bettor made their respective wager. For example, if a game changes locations like Bills-Browns, outlets like FanDuel Sportsbook will void all bets. Others like DraftKings Sportsbook, however, will allow all bets to stand as long as the home team remains the designated home team after the changes.

Action Network shared how BetMGM, PointsBet Sportsbook, Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel all go about handling such quirky cases — and you can check out more information here.

As it relates specifically to Bills-Browns, the NFL announced Thursday evening the impending snow storm in Western New York has caused the Week 11 contest to be relocated to the neutral site of Ford Field in Detroit. Ford Field, the home of the Detroit Lions, is an indoor stadium as opposed to the outdoor stadium in Buffalo. Ford Field is not being used in Week 11 with the Lions playing on the road against the New York Giants. And from a logistic perspective, it serves as a reasonable site for both Buffalo and Cleveland to travel to.

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Despite the Bills losing out on their home-field advantage, it feels like the change benefits their pass-heavy offense. But Buffalo might not be the only ones to welcome the league’s decision.

Some bettors who placed wagers on the total could benefit greatly should their bets still stand on DraftKings, among others.

Here’s the reasoning: The total opened at over/under 47, according to the NESNBets.com consensus live odds page. NESN betting analyst Sam Panayotovich explained how the initial weather reports caught the attention of professional bettors, who then jumped on betting the Under 47. That action then caused oddsmakers to slash the total to over/under 43.5 on Tuesday morning. And as weather reports continued, the total got as low as over/under 41.5 in some places Thursday. Just hours later, though, the league announced the game would be moved indoors and the total immediately jumped back to over/under 48.5, which is where it sits at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Those who placed bets on the Over 41.5 have been granted a very valuable ticket as it now represents a seven-point difference while those who bought in on the Under 47 had their advantage impacted now that the game has been moved indoors.

The Bills remain a 8.5-point favorite for the Week 11 game set for 1 p.m. ET.