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We’re in the midst of a Christmas season themed rundown of the best and worst ATS teams throughout all sports. Now we’re going to shift gears and do our ‘Naughty’ and ‘Nice’ list for the sports that are currently out of season. No doubt everyone has heard the Christmas carol that outlines Santa Claus’ review process to determine which kids get toys and which ones don’t: “He’s making a list, checking it twice...going to find out who’s naughty or nice”.
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We like to keep abreast of which teams are making the most money for bettors and which ones are doing the most damage to players’ bankrolls. Take a look at the NFL betting board at BetOnline.ag to further understand what we’re talking about. Some NFL football teams, for example, cover the spread at a higher rate than others. Other teams can’t seem to cover a number even though they might have a winning record straight up. In this article, instead of giving you an in-depth analysis of which teams are good (or bad) against the spread and why we’re going to give you a quick sport by sport rundown. We’ll start with the ‘Nice List’--the teams that make the most money for bettors. In our next article, we’ll look at the teams that lose the most money for the wagering public on the ‘Naughty List’. We’ve already done a ‘Naughty’ and ‘Nice’ list for the sports that are currently underway. Now we’ll look at the out of season sports including baseball, WNBA basketball and CFL football:
THE MOST PROFITABLE SPORTS BETTING TEAMS: THE NICE LIST—OUT OF SEASON EDITION
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (TEAM): The Oakland Athletics were not only the most profitable team in Major League Baseball but also the most profitable team in any North American college or professional sport. Obviously, baseball has an advantage of playing 162 games meaning that teams can go on a strong run and rack up some impressive profits. The flip side is that they can lose a ton of money if the go into the toilet. Oakland added +21.5 units of profit to their ‘financial backers’ bankrolls. In baseball, a team not only has to win games but get favorable valuations. Oakland was a decent team (97-65) but remained under the radar for much of the season. Notice that the Houston Astros won 10 more games than Oakland but made significantly less money (+3.6 units). The Minnesota Twins weren’t far behind with +19.5 units of profit on the season.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (PITCHER): No secret that starting pitchers are a huge part of linesmaking and handicapping baseball and for that reason it’s a good idea to keep a profit/loss tally on pitchers as well as their teams. There are many similarities between team and starting pitcher profit/loss trends including the importance of valuation. The Houston Astros were 26-14 when Justin Verlander started but despite winning at a 65% clip his backers lost -6.3 units on the season. The most profitable pitcher in baseball was the third place finisher on the AL wins list, Eduardo Rodriguez. Rodriguez went 19-6 in his decisions and the Red Sox were 26-8 in his starts for a profit of +17.5 units. Over in the National League, the most profitable pitcher was Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff at +12.1 units.
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION (WNBA): The WNBA may be a niche sport in the eyes of fans but there are a surprising number of bettors who follow the NBA’s distaff counterpart closely. The Washington Mystics finished with the best record in the league at 26-8 and won the WNBA Championship but earned a mere +2.1 units. The most profitable team in the WNBA was the 5th place Chicago Sky with +9.8 units of profit. The Sky went 20-14 SU but covered the spread at a 65.7% clip going 23-12-1 against the number.
CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE (CFL): The Hamilton Tiger-Cats won the CFL East with the best record in the league at 15-3. They made it all the way to the Grey Cup but lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 33-12. Hamilton did have the best performance in the CFL on a units won basis but it was extremely close. The Ti-Cats went 14-5-1 against the spread for an impressive 73.7% winning percentage versus the number. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were right behind, however, going 15-6 ATS (71.4%) for +8.4 units of profit.
