The New York Knicks are the biggest underdog in the history of the NBA tonight against the New Orleans Pelicans.
That’s at least if you open the FanDuel app in New York.
As of 12:30 ET on Thursday, the Knicks are 219.5 point underdogs.
The game is part of FanDuel’s “Spread The Love” promotion, which allows gamblers to bet up to $50 on their hometown team. Since the spread jumps one point for every 500 people that bet, the wager essentially becomes a guaranteed $45 win for anyone who maxes out.
The Knicks were originally 3.5-point favorites, but the spread has gone the other way thanks to nearly 100,000 bettors taking the sportsbook up on the promotion. The total is 210.5.
At +219.5, FanDuel’s marketing expense on the promotion is $5.05 million, which is not the most expensive single game promotion in a market from an online sportsbook.
At the beginning of the NFL season, FanDuel’s competitor DraftKings, offered a similar promotion to bettors across the country. The Kansas City Chiefs eventually became a 101-point underdog against the Houston Texans and the sportsbook gave out more than $10 million in winnings.
While sportsbooks have seen scrutiny by the markets as to whether such promotions effectively introduce and keep bettors betting with the same betting company, Andrew Sneyd, senior vice president of brand marketing for FanDuel, told The Action Network that the company’s “Spread The Love” promotion, when it has been rolled out in states newly made mobile, has been an effective tool.
“We continue to believe, and our data shows, that doing this is a fun way to get bettors to bet with us, engage with us and socially share the promotion,” Sneyd said.
Bettors in New York betting on the Knicks have a guaranteed win tonight — and that’s even if the Washington Generals dress up in the blue and white instead.
