Fantasy pari-mutuel churns through week XI
Pub Date: 12/1/2008
By Paul F. Vang
Michael Henderson of Malta is the most skillful, if not luckiest, player of Montana Sports Action, the pari-mutuel fantasy football game operated by Montana Lottery for the benefit of Montana horse racing.
Henderson, who placed his Week 10 bet at the Lucky Bullet in Malta, became the first person to win first prize twice in the fantasy league s first season. Henderson s first prize in Week 10 was $1,746.40. Henderson also won first prize in Week 6, when he collected $2,286.60, for total winnings of $4,033.
Assuming Henderson plays the game weekly and bets $5 each week, typical of most players, he is clearly the big winner of the game as of mid-November and two-thirds of the way through this year s 16-week regulation professional football season.
In analyzing cumulative figures (see spreadsheet), over $60,000 have been wagered on the pari-mutuel game. Assuming most players wager $5 at a time, that translates to approximately 1,100 people playing the game, averaging $5,533 in total wager per week. 74 percent of the wagers, or just over $45,000, were paid out to first, second and third place winners.
Montana Sports Action betting topped out in Week 3 when a total of $6,800 was wagered. Since then, the wagering has settled into a roughly $5,000 per week plateau.
The pari-mutuel game was developed to help generate funds for the Montana Board of Horse Racing to make money available to help promote horse racing in Montana and to improve racing facilities and purses or create new racing venues.
C. A. (Al) Carruthers of Butte, chairman of the Board of Horse Racing, didn t wish to comment on the results on behalf of the board, pointing out that the board will formally meet in December to review the results of the fantasy games.
He did comment, however, I wish it were three times as much, but went on to note, Lottery tells me it takes time for a new game like this to get established.
Combining the fantasy game revenues with other board revenues, Carruthers sounded an optimistic note: I think we ll be okay.
Source: The Montana Tavern Times, December, 2008, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.