Brady, who has enjoyed a prolific career in the NFL, played for both New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers across 22 successful seasons.
However, just 40 days after initially announcing his retirement from the sport, Brady signalled he would return to the Buccaneers.
As has been reported by a number of Las Vegas sportsbooks, including Westgate SuperBook and South Point Casino, a number of sizeable bets were placed on the Buccaneers being successful in both the NFC Conference and the Super Bowl next year, in the days leading up to Brady’s announcement.
Jay Kornegay, Vice President, Westgate SuperBook, commented: “There’s not a doubt in my mind they knew he was coming back when they placed those wagers on Thursday. And these were not casual bettors. They would be categorised as educated bettors. It was a player we would describe as a sharp.
“With that type of play and the announcement we heard he was unretiring, there was information that was shared prior to his official announcement.”
A ‘sharp’ is usually a title given to an expert bettor; one who has built up a reputation over the years for successful betting techniques, often with higher-than-average knowledge of the industry in question.
Prior to Brady’s announcement, Westgate SuperBook had odds at 60/1 for the Buccaneers to win next year’s Super Bowl, while the same bet at South Point was valued at 50/1.
Following the announcement, these odds dropped to 25/1 and 10/1, respectively. It is reported that suspicious bets were placed on a variety of odds.
While any investigation is yet to be authorised, any ruling is likely to come down to the law’s interpretation of insider information. In the days leading up to Brady’s announcement, there were rumours circulating he could reverse his retirement decision.
Kornegay continued: “There is no doubt in my mind information leaked sometime in the middle of last week. This is concerning.”
However, Westgate is perhaps becoming infamous for its battle with "sharp" bettors: in October 2020, it denied a VSiN podcast host $30,000 in bet winnings – despite the wager being successful.
