Notre Dame’s outright loss equals monumental win for sportsbooks

There’s generally not a whole lot of seismic activity in South Bend, Indiana. 

But an earthquake of an upset was felt there on Saturday.

Notre Dame was a massive 28-point home favorite in its home opener, yet lost to Northern Illinois 16-14. And the Fighting Irish setback was a substantial gain for some oddsmakers.

"Notre Dame’s outright loss is massive for us," said Zachary Lucas, director of retail sports for TwinSpires Sportsbook.

A couple of oddsmakers chimed in after the stunning result, which will no doubt hamper Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff odds, as well.

Parlays Go Poof

Granted, there weren’t a whole lot of people playing Notre Dame -28 on their straight bets. And Notre Dame was in the -6000 to -8000 range on the moneyline, so that wasn’t attractive for straight bets, either. Even at -6000, it would take a $6,000 bet to win just $100.

However, enough TwinSpires customers felt compelled to put the Irish in their moneyline parlays. Even though the value in doing so is almost nonexistent at those odds.

Notre Dame was basically seen as a free space on a moneyline parlay Bingo card, a sure bet to just win the game, regardless of score. But it didn’t work out that way.

Northern Illinois got a field goal in the final minute to go up 16-14, then blocked a 62-yard field-goal attempt by Notre Dame as time expired.

"The point spread wasn’t a big decision, but Notre Dame moneyline was in every parlay," Lucas said.

Some Bettors Steer Clear

Prime Sportsbook, which operates in Ohio and New Jersey, tends to take more sharp action than most operators. And Prime took less parlay money on Saturday’s game, too. So the book came out only modestly ahead on Notre Dame’s upset loss.

"Our action was fairly balanced on the