The Vegas Golden Knights have been great for the city of Las Vegas, but they might not be so great for the local sportsbooks.
Several fans got behind the Golden Knights early in the season, expressing confidence in them by placing bets on the team. Because the Golden Knights are an expansion team, they had extremely long odds to win the Stanley Cup.
In fact, the Westgate LV SportsBook manager says they have 13 tickets for the Golden Knights to win it all at 500:1 odds.
Highest Stanley Cup odds on @GoldenKnights we had was 500/1 during preseason and before game 1 of the regular season … 13 tickets ranging from $10 to $60
— Jeff Sherman (@golfodds) May 20, 2018
The LA Times wrote about the subject last month. In that article, Boyd Gaming said they had a few $30,000 tickets outstanding if the Golden Knights win it all. They also offered the Golden Knights at 150:1 odds because they figured they would be a popular bet among locals. As the Golden Knights began winning, sportsbooks made adjustments to their odds, but those who jumped on them early got them at fantastic odds. Those people can hedge if they want to ensure a payout.
Overall, despite the amount of outstanding tickets on the Golden Knights, the potential losses were described as being comparable to a bad NFL Sunday if the local team wins it all. Given how much the team has positively impacted the community, the sportsbooks probably don’t mind the losses at stake.
