The winless Detroit Lions are no longer on the long road to 0-17.
Although Dan Campbell’s first season as head coach could still end without a ‘W,’ Sunday’s 16-16 tie against the Pittsburgh Steelers means the Lions will not become the first 0-17 team — this season, anyway. After losing their first eight games of the season, the Lions are now 0-8-1 with eight games to go.
We’ve written about how Michigan online sportsbooks were offering odds for the Lions to have another historic season of futility.
We’re checking around to see what happens now that the Lions aren’t going to finish 0-17, though they still could finish winless.
PointsBet: 0-17 bets will be graded as losers
PointsBet Sportsbook was the first Michigan sportsbook to put up a market that allowed users to wager for “Yes” on the Detroit Lions to go 0-17.
Since it was worded as such, those bets will be graded as losers, according to a spokesperson.
PointsBet opened the Lions 0-17 market at +1600 on Sept. 28 (with the Lions at 0-3). The line moved to +1400 on Oct. 11 (0-5), then to +800 on Oct. 25 (0-7), and finally +425 on Nov. 1 (0-8).
However, one does wonder if this could be an issue for the PointsBet Karma Kommittee, which “sits at 7 a.m. with coffee & bagel,” according to the company, seeing if any bettors deserve a little mercy for their misfortune. Of course, you’d think the Lions would have to lose out for such mercy to be shown.
Does anybody deserve good karma more than a Lions’ fan?
BetMGM, Caesars, FanDuel also grading bets as losers; we’re checking on DraftKings
Representatives from BetMGM Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook and Caesars Sportsbook also responded to PlayMichigan with bad news for bettors.
Those bets were indeed also for the 0-17 seasons and will be graded as losers.
However, Caesars and FanDuel also offered the other side. So if you bet that the Lions would “not” go 0-17, that bet is already a winner.
As of Monday afternoon, we have not yet heard back from DraftKings Sportsbook.
Lions are up against Cleveland Browns next
Of course, all of this is a moot point if the Lions are able to get a victory sometime in their final eight games.
Next is another AFC North road game at Cleveland. The Browns are 5-5 after Sunday’s 45-7 loss to the New England Patriots.
The Lions then play the annual Thanksgiving game at home against Chicago with a few more winnable games sprinkled in the rest of the schedule.
