Tom Brady’s Return to Foxboro Triumphant, Even For Sportsbooks

The long-awaited return of Tom Brady to Gillette Stadium and Foxboro has finally arrived after he left the New York Patriots following 20 years with the franchise. Since the return of Tom Brady was against his old team, there were a lot of eyes on the game and it became the most highly anticipated contest in this period. It attracted a lot of attention, especially at sportsbooks across the US.

Caesars Sportsbook, the new betting platform by Caesars Entertainment, shared with Casino.org that 94% of the spread bets on the game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New England Patriots were in favor of the Patriots, the most recent Super Bowl champions.

The Outcome of the Game

Statistics have shown that the fans were betting on Brady’s success this weekend. Some major bets and a considerable amount of money had poured in on the underdogs on Sunday morning, though. According to Caesars, a $500,000 bet on the Patriots +7 was received just ahead of the game. The operator explained that the bet alone shifted the overall percentage of money in favor of the home team on the game.

At 1 PM ET on Sunday, Caesars Sportsbook stated that 94% of the spread bets that were placed on the game were on the Bucs, but since 52% of the money wagered were on the Patriots, the pot went to New England. In other words, big bettors were fonder of the Patriots, while the public favored the Bucs.

One would say that since a bigger share of the money was placed on the Patriots, the sportsbooks managed to bag the biggest profit as the Bucs won 19-17. Brady railed through the victory, as he was 22 of 43 for 269 yards, but managed to drive the team in the fourth quarter to win the game. With the loss, this marks the first time when the Patriots are 1-3 since 2001.

Even though the Bucs had multiple defense mistakes, a missed early field goal, as well as costly penalties, the franchise managed to come out on top and beat Brady’s former team. This game showed the true potential of the US betting market, which is likely to continue rising in the upcoming years.

Brady Had an Unforgettable Run with the Patriots

Brady managed to win record-breaking six Super Bowls during his 20-year run with the Patriots. Not only that, but he managed to claim four Super Bowl MVPs and three regular-season MVPs. During the times when the Patriots dominated the NFL (2000-2019), oddsmakers didn’t even think of rooting against the franchise.

Prior to this NFL season, the Patriots were +7 underdogs on just two occasions since 2000. That is a run of 164 home games. The 6.5 spread was at DraftKings, PointsBet, SugarHouse/BetRivers and FanDuel. However, Caesars bettors that backed the Patriots received an extra half-point.

In this game, Brady was in the visiting locker room for the first time in his career. He stated that even though he knows every inch of Gillette Stadium, including the home tunnel, in some way, it would be unique, as he’s never had the away team experience. It marked the first time where he’s on the opposing sideline of the Patriots.

Bill Belichick, a legend and the former coach of Tom Brady, didn’t change the model of his team just because the best player returned to Foxboro. He added that Brady has extensive knowledge of how things are done with the Patriots and he expected him to use that knowledge against them.

Belichick concluded by saying that it wouldn’t be in the Patriots’ best interest to completely change the way they do things just because of Brady. Instead, he stated that it would be much smarter to do the things they did so far, only better, as it would help the team more than anything. But, as last night’s game showed, Brady and the Buccaneers were able to outsmart the Patriots, even if they just barely survived.