WORLD SERIES ROUNDUP \ News and notes
Vegas odds favor Rays: 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. “What we’re also trying to protect here is even more Tampa Bay money coming in,” Van Patten said. “What we’re trying to do is maybe get a little buyback on the Phillies.” Las Vegas Hilton race and sports book director Jay Kornegay says before the start of the season the Rays were a 200-1 shot for the title. “It’s a significant number for a futures book, but it’s nothing that’s going to shut down the book or anything,” Kornegay told The Associated Press. “It might dim the lights.” Kornegay would not specify how much the Hilton sports book stood to lose if the Phillies win, but said other sports books offered even longer odds on the Rays winning a championship.
Viewers tune in: Game 7 of the AL championship series drew the most viewers ever for a baseball game on cable television. Nearly 13.4 million people watched the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1 Sunday night on TBS, the network said Monday. That broke the mark set by the 1998 Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals game on ESPN in which Mark McGwire hit his 61st home run to tie the single-season record.
Associated Press