College Football Betting Uptimes Vary Per Operator

A recent study by Bettormetrics found that sportsbooks suspend bets more often for college football matches. On average, the difference in suspension times is 8.7% worse than in NFL matches. Sportsbooks need as the demand for college football bets increases.

We examined the topic to provide all the necessary details on the study. You can learn more about suspensions and why keeping downtime low is important. We will also compare a few top operators and their uptimes as examples.

What Are Suspensions?

In sports betting, a suspension means players can’t place bets on events temporarily. That is usually done whenever a significant change in the event’s odds occurs, like a player getting injured or bad weather halting the match. Suspensions can happen anytime, so you should always be aware when placing bets.

Whenever a match gets suspended, the outcome of your bet varies. Often, your bet will be settled, and you will keep any winnings, but it can also be voided and refunded. If you have a parlay, you won’t have to worry about losing it, as the voided bet will just be removed. However, you should always check a site’s policies in advance.

Study Findings

The study found that sportsbooks have significantly more suspensions during college football games than professional ones. For example, while DraftKings has a 94.5% uptime in NFL games, it drops to 80.5% for college matches. Meanwhile, Caesars goes from 82.5% to 71.6%. That can cause frustration among players, as it takes time for the bets to be settled.

One reason for these suspensions is likely the liquidity. As there’s more money in NFL games, it takes more significant events to upset the odds. Additionally, NFL teams aren’t obscure, so people will always be betting on them. Finally, getting accurate data for NFL games is likely easier, especially since some sportsbooks partner with the NFL.

Managing Suspensions

As the demand for college football games continues to grow, operators will also need to improve their uptime. Players are never fond of their bets being voided or having to wait until a market reopens so they can place bets. Even if the site has quality odds or markets, it won’t be able to attract customers if it constantly stops events to make updates.

However, there are also some challenges to achieving better uptime, as noted by the CEO of Bettormetrics, Robert Urwin. Scouting data for NCAA events can be hard to find, especially since many states ban college prop bets. There are also more college football games than NFL ones, so it’s harder to keep up. However, he believes it’s important to overcome these challenges.

Conclusion

Overall, the study shows room for improvement in uptimes for college football games. Urwin estimates around $800 million in gross gaming revenue from college football, so the market can be considered very important. Although keeping up with so many games and offering competitive markets can be difficult, it can lead to a higher quality customer experience and generate more revenue.

However, there are still challenges in finding accurate data and abiding by state laws prohibiting certain markets, like betting on local college teams or offering college props. We hope the top sportsbooks will be able to find a solution to these issues and improve the experience for college football fans.