Sportsbooks ‘not doing well’ during nightmare run of March Madness favorites

March Madness has been a disaster for the sportsbooks.

The lack of chaos – or madness – took a bit of the excitement out of the tournament this year for many, and it cost the books big money as the betting public typically backs favorites.

“We are not doing well,” DraftKings‘ director of sports, Johnny Avello, told The Post in a phone interview on Wednesday. “The bettors did very well this year. They’ve got a lot of bullets, and they will be throwing those bullets at the rest of the events in the future. They had a good football season, too.”

Favorites running wild isn’t new to Avello, who has been in the bookmaking space since the mid-’80s and operates DraftKings’ betting business from Las Vegas.

He is no stranger to bad weeks, months and quarters in the business.

“A lot of chalk this year. but I’ve been through this before. Sometimes, I look at it, if things change should I do things differently? The answer is no,” Avello said.

“I don’t think we’ve changed our approach with the way we have handled the tournament or the odds we have made. Sometimes, things that happen in the course of a game change things. Michigan State went down badly, 24-8. They got themselves in a jam and may have won that game. Games go certain ways sometimes.”

Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome celebrating after a play during the NCAA Tournament South Regional final against Michigan State Spartans IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

No one is going to feel for DraftKings, though, as the publicly traded company is surely making more than enough money overall, even if March Madness and the NFL season didn’t go their way.

“We don’t cry; we just do what we do. This is our business when they win. They win. We hope they keep coming back,” Avello said.

Avello tells The Post that while their bookmaking won’t change, neither will bettors who are expected to hammer both favorites on Saturday night in a big way with Duke favored by 5.5 over Houston and Florida laying 2.5 to Auburn.

“We are 75 percent Duke right now. We are going to need the dog.” Avello told The Post about DK’s position in the Final Four.

“I would say the way (Florida-Auburn) is trending, we expect this game to get to three… I don’t know that (Duke-Houston) gets past 5.5. That one holds between 5 and 5.5.”

The winners on Saturday will face off Monday night for the championship, and Avello revealed when he suspects the opening lines will be for those games.

Walter Clayton Jr. was the hero for Florida against Texas Tech. AP

“Florida-Duke is -4.5 Duke,” Avello said. “Houston -1 vs. Auburn would be the closest spread.”

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Avello added that Florida vs. Houston’s opening line would be the Gators -1.5 or -2, while Auburn vs. Duke would be a bigger number, perhaps -5.5 or higher, depending on the availability of star center Johni Broome.

“Flagg, when he was injured, we were valuing at seven points to the spread when he went out against UNC,” Avello said. “For Broome, he’s worth maybe four points to the spread.”

Broome, expected to play against Florida, will be a key piece for the Tigers as they look to spring the upset in a tournament bereft of shock storylines this year.

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.