US Sports Betting to Benefit from Proposed 17-Game NFL Schedule

The NFL Players Association is still sitting on the proposed collective bargaining agreement. The proposal includes an additional regular-season game for each team. Some industry experts say that US sports betting will benefit from the new NFL game schedule.

Also, the new CBA will guarantee that players will have a share of gambling revenue. However, the terms of the agreement have vague wording. It doesn’t include how much the share will be and what it will cover.

The NFLPA was supposed to vote on the new CBA on Friday, but it didn’t take place. Some players opposed the proposed CBA, including Houston’s JJ Watt. However, the league owners already gave their blessing to the ten-year deal.


A Boon to US Sports Betting

Price per player providers and bettors are in favor of the new CBA. To start with, it takes out a week in the preseason for an extra week in the regular season. That means 16 more games to bet on. Bookie pay per head service providers already estimated that the additional games will bring millions in handle per season.

Also, the CBA includes having the seventh team in the playoffs for each conference. Thus, the team with the best record gets to rest until the Wild Card Weekend of the league. According to bookie PPH reports, the additional team will make the playoffs more competitive. The best team can have the extra week to rest its starters.

However, players don’t want an extra game in the regular season. According to a sports blog, players don’t want the increased risk of injury. Also, they said that their current contracts don’t include the extra game.

The NFL CBA doesn’t expire until the end of next season. However, its TV contracts will expire soon. Having a CBA with extra week and playoff games can be used as leverage in the TV contract discussions.