Curry, Henry, Kupp, Judge among most bet-on athletes of 2022

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Did you win money betting on Saint Peter’s, the longest-of-longshots men’s college basketball team that got to the Elite Eight in the national championship tournament this year?

If so, you’ve got plenty of company.

According to DraftKings sportsbook, customers won more money betting on Saint Peter’s than on any other team in 2022. And the Peacocks’ 67-64 victory over Purdue on March 25 was the top-winning game for customers at BetMGM.

Did you lose money betting on the New York Yankees, Green Bay Packers or the Alabama Crimson Tide? Plenty of others did too.

Several of the nation’s leading sportsbooks provided year-end data to The Associated Press giving a look at how people bet in 2022. None would provide actual dollar figures, terming that proprietary information.

Other moneymakers for DraftKings included North Carolina, Gonzaga, Kansas and Providence in the NCAA tournament; and the San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders in the NFL.

Big money-losers for DraftKings customers included the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, who did not even qualify for the playoffs in an injury-marred 2022 season; the Denver Broncos, a trendy pre-season Super Bowl pick whose trade for veteran quarterback Russell Wilson has backfired in a 4-11 season so far; the struggling Tom Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Brady’s former team, the New England Patriots; the Miami Dolphins; and the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets.

In terms of the total amount of money wagered, Golden State’s Steph Curry was the most bet-on player of 2022 for DraftKings, followed by the Rams’ Cooper Kupp, the reigning Super Bowl MVP; the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, the American League MVP; the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Henry; Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce; the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic; The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo; the Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’marr Chase, and the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum.

In terms of the sheer number of bets, Titans running back Derrick Henry was first, followed by Kelce and Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb. Others on the list included New York Giants running back Saquan Barkley, Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor and Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams.

The most bet-on players for customers of Caesars Sportsbook were Curry; Doncic; Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow; Tatum, and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Caesars’ most bet-on teams were the Yankees; Warriors; Los Angeles Dodgers; New York Mets and Phoenix Suns.

At BetMGM, the most bet-on players were Judge, Curry and Doncic.

Houston mattress dealer and big-time gambler Jim McIngvale, also known as “Mattress Mack,” had two huge wins with Caesars this year: betting $3 million on the Houston Astros to win the World Series at 10-1 odds for a $30 million payout, and winning nearly $8 million betting on Kansas to win the NCAA basketball tournament.

At BetMGM, the most bet-on players were Judge, Curry and Doncic. McIngvale also hit for $10 million on an Astros World Series bet with BetMGM.

A World Cup soccer game in which the U.S. beat Iran 1-0 was the third-most profitable game for customers this year at BetMGM.

Games that turned out best for BetMGM — but not their customers — were led by the Sept. 12 revenge game between the Seattle Seahawks, who had just traded Wilson, and the Denver Broncos, the team that acquired him. They also did well on a 49ers-Packers playoff game, the Georgia-Alabama college football championship game and a Bengals-Titans playoff game.

That sportsbook also paid out big bets on the Super Bowl including million-dollar bets on the Rams to score more points than the Bengals in the first and fourth quarters.

As it was with most sportsbooks, the Super Bowl was the most bet-on game of the year at PointsBet, followed by the Bengals-Chiefs AFC conference championship game; the Oct. 10 Raiders-Chiefs game; the Sept. 9 season opener between the Rams and the Buffalo Bills, and the Dolphins-Bengals game on Sept. 29.

FanDuel, the official odds provider for The Associated Press, did not provide similar data for 2022.

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Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC