DraftKings has dug a line in the sand — the betting giant doesn’t believe in Jake Paul.
DraftKings’ director of sports operations, Johnny Avello, told The Post that it looks like they will have nearly a $100 million rooting interest against Paul tonight in his landmark boxing match against former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
“Yes and no,” Avello responded while chuckling to the question of whether he was excited for Friday’s big boxing match.
“The Netflix platform will have plenty of eyeballs on it, and Jake Paul has this star power. I’m not sure it will be the biggest betting fight of all time, that’s still Paul vs. Mike Tyson, but from a liability standpoint, the way it’s trending, we have a huge rooting interest.”
DraftKings is seeing an excessive number of “small bets” — under $50 — on Paul.
Typically, when a sportsbook has this significant a liability, it would move the line in that direction, but as of Friday afternoon, DraftKings is refusing.
“We feel it’s the right price. Put your bookmaking hat on, and we boosted Joshua to win in Rounds 1 and 2,” Avello continued. “[Dave] Portnoy is also on Joshua and Over 2.5 rounds.”
Paul opened at +1500 to win this match when it was first announced, but that line cratered to +650, and DraftKings and seemingly every other betting shop are refusing to go any lower.
“We’re not moving off of it,” Avello added. “We feel it’s the right place.”
Avello added that there aren’t many big-money bets on Paul.
“We have the accumulation at +700 and to win by KO/TKODQ +1400,” Avello continued.
“The normal [bettor] isn’t going to lay $12 to win a dollar,” Avello added. “Yeah, there will be some Joshua money, but the accumulation on Paul is going to overwhelm.”
When asked about the concern that Paul, through his company Most Valuable Promotions, is promoting the fight with special rules such as mixed weight classes, non-standard round lengths, and eight rounds instead of 12, Avello said it does factor into their prices.
“When you’re playing with the rules we’re talking about less time and fewer rounds,” he said. “We think If it went more rounds, we think it would probably favor Paul.”
Paul, who was previously slated to fight Gervonta Davis at a maximum of 135 pounds, is now fighting Joshua, who weighed in at 234 pounds Thursday.
Avello adds that this sort of betting action reminds him of the 2017 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor.
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“It kind of is bringing me back to Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor,” Avello continued. “Here, now we’re legalized … This will be our biggest fight of the year. Canelo (vs.) Crawford was the biggest one, but it should rocket past that. The price is just so high. It will probably be one of the biggest betting events of all time.
“Since we boosted Rounds 1 and 2 to +150, we’re seeing some action there. Still early stages on the Over/Under Round props. Everyone’s betting on the Over 2.5 rounds.”
All eyes will be on the squared circle late Friday and into Saturday as Paul goes off as a massive underdog, but the betting community is all-in on him.
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Erich Richter is a brazilian jiu-jitsu blue belt but he has a black belt in MMA betting. During the football season he’s showcased massive profits at The Post in the player prop market the last two seasons. While constantly betting long shots, his return on investment is 30.15 percent since 2022.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
