The Raiders won’t be moving to Las Vegas for a while, but they are already having an impact on the biggest local industry.
Several casino sportsbooks in Vegas say that the Raiders have been drawing the most action of any team when it comes to bets to win the Super Bowl. David Purdum of ESPN.com reports that the Raiders have been wagered on nearly twice as much as any other team at William Hill’s 108 sportsbooks in Nevada.
While the team is coming, Westgate assistant manager Ed Salmons says he doesn’t think that’s the reason for the betting interest.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with the Las Vegas angle,” Salmons said. “Last year, the Raiders played really high-scoring games, and they started covering spreads. That is just the dynamic of a public team.”
The Raiders also opened the offseason with Super Bowl title odds as high as 20-1 in some places, which is naturally going to be an appealing pay off for gamblers looking for teams with both a chance to win and a chance to line their pockets. Those odds have dipped as a result of all the action, which could lead to a wider spread of bets by the time the season gets underway and a better chance for the Raiders’ future neighbors to make money should the team wind up victorious in Minneapolis come February.