The announcement of Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his part in “Deflategate” has had a ripple effect throughout the NFL, but nowhere was it more profoundly felt than with the sports books.
The Patriots slipped from 7-1 to win the Super Bowl to 12-1, according to United Kingdom bookmaker William Hill.
The Las Vegas Superbook dropped the Patriots from 10.5 to 10 wins and from -130 over to -150, which equates to greater than a full game downgrade.
The Patriots were favored by 6 in their opening game against the Steelers. Immediately after the NFL suspension was announced, that spread fell to -1. It is currently at -2, according to pregame.com. The over/under for the opener fell from 53.5 to 49.
Pregame.com says Brady’s value is usually considered to be about seven points per game, “but New England has the advantage of the entire offseason to prepare for his absence, somewhat lessening the impact.”