NFL and Olympics Sports Betting
The National Football League joins baseball and the Summer Olympics on the sports betting calendar for this week, with Arizona taking on New Orleans as the league's preseason kicks off with the Hall of Fame Game. As well, the Sprint Cup Series hits the track at Pocono Raceway, while top golfers take to the links at the WGC-Bridgestone.
The oddsmakers at the sportsbooks have the Saints listed as 3-point favorites in the Hall of Fame Game at Canton's Fawcett Stadium on Sunday, with New Orleans head coach Sean Payton suspended for the season due to the team's bounty-program scandal. The Saints lost to the Niners in the second round of the NFL's playoffs last season after going 13-3 on the year, while the Cards are coming off an 8-8 campaign.
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On the diamond the Angels and the Rangers will meet in a divisional clash early this week, while the Athletics will be playing host to the Rays. Los Angeles and Texas have split their last 10 meetings 5-5 on the MLB betting lines at the sportsbooks, with the OVER/UNDER going 5-5 in those contests. The Rays lost two of three games at home to the A's earlier this season, with those matchups going 2-0-1 on the OVER/UNDER.
Later in the week on the diamond the Angels will be on the road to take on the White Sox, while the Rangers hit the field in Kansas City, and the Athletics host the Blue Jays. As well, the Pirates and Reds will meet in Cincinnati in a weekend matchup of the top two teams in the NL Central. The Pirates have gone 5-4 against the Reds for their supporters on the MLB lines this season, with the OVER/UNDER 4-5 in those games.
Olympic betting action continues around London this week, including in the pool where Michael Phelps was pegged as the 1/5 favorite to win the men's 200m butterfly event. Phelps (3/2) is then behind fellow American Ryan Lochte (1/2) on the odds to win the men's 200m individual medley. Lochte picked up a gold medal in the pool on Saturday afternoon, winning the men's 400m individual medley – Phelps was fourth that day.
The PGA Tour's top golfers will compete at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio this week, while the tour also offers up the Reno-Tahoe Open at Montreux Golf & Country Club in Nevada for the second tier.
On the track this week it's the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway in the Sprint Cup Series and the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in the IndyCar Series – with both of those events taking place on Sunday. UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera is also on tap for the weekend, with Mauricio Rua set as the -350 odds favorite over Brandon Vera (+265).