Yankees Come With “Name Brand” Costs

Over the past few years a major change has come about from the major league baseball oddsmakers in regards to high quality, “name brand” teams and pitchers.  These teams and pitchers have gone from being in the -$200 range a decade ago to now commanding upwards towards $-300 or more, particularly if they are at home against a weak team.   These massive overlays instituted over the past few seasons by sportsbooks are their not so subtle or polite way of telling gamblers to “get lost” if they are looking to take the far superior team or pitcher in a matchup. 

In essence, what the sportsbooks are trying to do is scare off action that they really don’t want.  Let’s take an example of an April 13, 2006 game between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.   In the absolute ultimate example of mirror opposites, this example trumps all others.  Reputed Yankee ace Randy Johnson was on the hill to face baseball’s worst team. The Yankees are a “Name brand” team in the truest sense of the definition as they have a world-wide fan base and command a lot of “casual” if not “ignorant” money at sportsbooks from folks who simply bet on the pinstripes because of name recognition and their reputation for excellence.  Now that is just the start of this example, however.

In addition to the Yankees being the ultimate “name brand” team in baseball, if not all of sports gambling, you have one of the premier “name brand” pitchers going in this game in Johnson, also known as “The Big Unit.”  Even when Johnson pitched for poor teams he commanded exorbitant prices on the baseball betting boards due to his reputation as one of the best pitchers in baseball.   Even when it wasn’t justified or if he was in a stretch in which he wasn’t dominating, Johnson would still command top dollar from gamblers as determined by the oddsmakers.  Now let’s add in the third factor to this matchup.  There may be no worse organization in all of sports than the Kansas City Royals, who have gone from the most respected organization in the game a generation ago to a laughingstock nowadays, as a perennial 100 loss team.  They epitomize everything that the Yankees are NOT.  KC is the direct and mirror opposite of a “name brand” team. 

Let’s now add up our equation to fully understand the mind-boggling line that was set in this game.  We have the ultimate baseball franchise with the ultimate starting pitcher against the ultimate losing team.  We have the highest “name recognition” from the mainstream gambling public in both respect for the Yankees and Johnson and disrespect for Kansas City.  Both teams are highly recognizable to even the most casual of gamblers.  And we have the Yankees at home at historic Yankee Stadium, just for good measure.   The oddsmakers and sportsbooks know full and well that NOBODY wants Kansas City and that the Yankees look like easy money, (because they most likely are easy money in this matchup).  So what do the oddsmakers and sportsbooks do to scare off Yankee money?  They jack the line all the way up into a massive overlay of New York/Johnson and make New York minus $360!   So a gambler has a choice.   He can gulp hard and step up to lay out $360 to win $100 on the Yanks, or take a $100 “powerball/lotto” shot on the Royals to win $335.  Or he can walk away. 

The sportsbooks, naturally, are hoping that the gambler will either take the Royals or walk away from the game.  If the baseball bettor just cannot help himself and just has to take the Yankees, the sportsbooks will charge him a PREMIUM price for his action and taking the ultimate “name brand” team at home with the ultimate “name brand pitcher” against the ultimate “name brand” loser of a team.   Those who were willing to pay the price were rewarded as the Yankees scored a 9-3 win and payoff, just as expected. 

So far this baseball season, in games through May 20, we can see further examples of “name brand” teams not always bringing value on the betting boards, however, as over the long run, the new era of massive overlays is having a dramatic effect on quality teams as the sportsbooks are tired of taking a bath in baseball mismatches.

At day’s end on May 20, the Yankees stood at 24-17, good for second in the American League East just 1.5-games behind Boston.  Despite the winning record, however, New York was ahead only $12 against the sportsbooks for the entire season!  In fact, the Yankees woes against the sportsbooks are a carryover from 2005 when they went 97-70, (including the playoffs), and won the American League East Division title.  Despite that record, however, the Yankees finished a shocking twenty-eighth out of thirty teams in the money line standings as they dropped $1897 for the season, (based on $100 units)!!!

The Yankees are far beyond just a great and historic baseball organization.  They are also an American “pop culture” icon as people who don’t know a baseball bat from a hockey stick wear Yankee caps and shirts.  And this mentality applies to the sportsbooks as people who don’t bet baseball seriously will still plunk down a few bucks on the Yankees, just to have action.  All of this adds up to overlays that give the Yankees no value in the long run for serious gamblers.