USA Online Sportsbooks | Sports Betting | Hurricane Ian Effecting NFL and CFB Betting Lines
Hurricane Ian

Hurricane Ian Effecting NFL and CFB Betting Lines

by
  • Hurricane Ian has influenced betting odds on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the South Florida Bulls.
  • Following news of the secured practice arrangement, the Buccaneers are now smaller underdogs against the Kansas City Chiefs.
  • With South Florida now playing their home game against the East Carolina Pirates at Florida Atlantic’s stadium, the Bulls are now larger underdogs than before.

TAMPA BAY, Fla. – At the professional and collegiate level, it appears that Hurricane Ian is affecting betting odds on football games scheduled for this week.

With the latest projections for Hurricane Ian likely affecting open stadium home teams the most as they begin to practice and eventually play games, the betting public has reacted based on the plans of the two teams most prominently affected: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the University of South Florida Bulls.

How Hurricane Ian has affected betting odds in the NFL

The Buccaneers are the only professional team in Florida to play at home this week, meaning they have had to make the most adjustments for Hurricane Ian.

Their recently announced plan to secure practice time by relocating to Miami may have been considered a positive in the eyes of NFL sportsbooks, as they went from three-point underdogs versus the Kansas City Chiefs to two-point favorites.

That odds shift could be attributed to a change of heart by the sportsbooks or NFL bettors in general, but it is hard to believe that knowledge that the Buccaneers have secured practice time didn’t positively influence the perception of the 2020 Super Bowl champions at least enough to change the spread by one point.

The more drastic change in betting odds suggests that the Buccaneer’s Raymond James Stadium tenants, the USF Bulls, were more negatively affected by the hurricane.

Hurricane Ian affecting betting odds in College Football

College football sportsbooks had more influential news than a change in practice venue to adjust for based on USF’s recent announcement:

With the Bulls now playing as the “Home” team versus the East Carolina Pirates at Florida Atlantic’s stadium in Boca Raton, sportsbooks are limiting the home-field advantage factor that had previously influenced the game’s betting odds.

South Florida went from an eight-point underdog to a 9.5-point underdog because they are playing at a site that is likely to feature less of a home-field advantage for the Bulls than had they played the game in Tampa.

Of course, fans of USF could use the combination of a Hurricane and a football game as excuses to “evacuate” to Boca Raton and make it feel like a home game for their team.