The money is on the Rays, but is anyone watching?

Here in the North East, we’re greeted with daily early morning temperatures in the upper 30′s which can only mean one thing…World Series Baseball!  If you had the Rays versus the Phillies in your preseason pick em’ pool…well, you’re probably omniscient.  Well Mr. Smarty Pants, since you were able to pick those two teams from the beginning, can you tell me who’s going to win?  Let’s see what Vegas thinks…

Las Vegas sports books favor the Tampa Bay Rays to win the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies  and would owe huge payouts if the American League champions prevail.

Oddsmakers say enough bettors took the Rays early in the year at long-shot prices to force books to adjust lines to encourage bets on the Phillies.

Sean Van Patten at Las Vegas Sports Consultants says the Rays are favored at minus-$1.35, meaning a gambler would need to bet $1.35 to be paid $1 if Tampa Bay wins.

Van Patten puts the Phillies at plus-$1.15, meaning a $1 bet would earn $1.15 if Philadelphia wins.

The Rays were heavy underdogs in the American League East mainly because of high expectations for the Boston Red Sox, which swept the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series, and the New York Yankees.

Alright, so Vegas likes the Rays, and if their assumptions are correct, a lot of people are about to make a lot of money and some low-level bookies may lose some fingers or something.  That’s all well and good, but, is anyone going to be watching the games?  Well, not so much.  The Tampa Bay Rays, as documented on this blog have had some attendance troubles this year.  Sure, everybody in Tampa discovered the team once they made the playoffs, but I don’t think the rest of the country got the memo.  And the Phillies do have a relatively strong local market, but are people in L.A. worried about Cole Hamels getting a quality start?  Not so much.  In fact, Bill Gorman, over at TV by the Numbers posted this tidbit,

This year, I’m confident we’ll see the lowest average viewership of any World Series in the last 40 years (as far back as our data goes), lower than 2006 St. Louis Cardinals v. Detriot Tigers matchup which averaged 15.81 million viewers.

Well, at least we know baseball games aren’t rigged (NBA, *cough*).  That’s a good thing, right?

Yahoo! Sports:  Vegas odds favor Rays to win Series over Phillies

TV by the Numbers:  Major League Baseball World Series Nielsen TV Ratings, 1968-2007

Tags: Baseball, betting, gambling, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series, World Series Ratings

Category: Baseball