The Hall of Fame Game between the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans has been canceled. And if you're here, you probably had a bet or two on the game Thursday night.
The first preseason game of the 2024 season was called with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter due to thunderstorms peppering the Midwest – Canton, Ohio being the focal point.
Ultimately, with the cancellation, the Bears — who were in the lead at the time — came out of Canton with the victory by the score of 21-17.
Despite it being what it is – a preseason game – excitement ran rampant amongst football fans across the nation. In a game where we saw the likes of Brett Rypien take on Davis Mills, fans were just happy to be seeing NFL football back on their television screens and placing wagers once again. With the cancellation, though, what happens to your bets?
Generally, in situations like this, it will always depends on the sportsbook you use. However, one rule that's consistent across the board is that 55 minutes must be completed for all bets to count. That's true at FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Caesars, as well as other major books.
PrizePicks and Underdog Fantasy, though, are single-player daily fantasy and operated differently for this game.
PrizePicks and Underdog graded their plays out as final. Despite the game not making it to the fourth quarter, plays were graded as final given the statistics when the game was ended. If you had a pick on "more than" but the player was below his total, despite the game not hitting the sportsbooks' aforementioned 55-minute threshold, it didn't matter. Your play was graded as a loss. If you had plays that were heavy on "less than" picks, you may have been more fortunate.
For bettors, though, Thursday night's game endured 42 1/2 minutes played, and since this game will not continue at a later date, that means all bets placed will be voided.
Refunds aplenty on #NFL#HallOfFameGame Texans vs Bears:
"It has to go 55 minutes to be official. That's the industry standard in Nevada. So we refunded all full-game bets and second-half wagers, side and total."
– @BetMGM Nevada's Scott Shelton
— Patrick Everson (@PatrickE_Vegas) August 2, 2024
The Texans closed as 2.5-point favorites against the Bears in the Hall of Fame Game, with the total set at over/under 33 points scored. That line had been as low as 30.5, though, meaning that for some bettors, the over would have cashed in the first half. Of course, that didn't end up mattering, due to the cancellation.
If you tailed Chris Raybon's pick, you would've been on the Bears to cover. Alas, bettors across America broke even to end the night.
Bettors at DraftKings should note that DK’s policy states "There must be 5 minutes or less of scheduled game time left for bets to have action unless the specific market outcome is already unconditionally determined," which meant that many total bets were action.
The next NFL preseason games takes place on Thursday, Aug. 8th.
