As NFL fans and bettors alike gear up for conference championship weekend, the always present specter of a major player injury hangs overhead.
Yet, while sports betting sites and their customers would overwhelmingly prefer not to have that scenario play out Sunday, Fanatics Sportsbook will continue to give bettors a break should a player leave due to injury and not return.
Fanatics has not only revealed the five biggest benefactors of its Fair Play initiative, it has also announced several enhancements to the program designed to make players whole if one or more of their bets are impacted by an early player departure.
Fair Play program "discretionary"
Fanatics has invested heavily in its Fair Play program, which it describes as a "discretionary house rule policy" which applies to player prop bets across all professional sports. With Fair Play, Fanatics voids bets (including parlay legs) when a player leaves a game due to injury and does not return.
The injury must take place within Fanatics' specified time frame (in the first quarter of NFL games, for example), with a trading team dedicated to monitoring all player injuries and making the call on when to void bets or parlay legs based on the players' updated status.
Player bets or parlay legs are usually voided within 30 minutes of the trading team's determination.
It's the most transparent and player-friendly approach to one of the most contentious issues in sports betting. Segments of bettors clamor for voids or refunds after nearly every player departure, and the shouts are amplified when a significant athlete goes down – particularly if the injury happens in the early stages of the game.
The sportsbooks themselves have always used their own discretion, and Fanatics emphasizes that its trading team ultimately makes the call.
FanDuel reveals biggest second-chance winners
While a voided bet goes a long way toward making spurned bettors whole, those who have lost parlay legs to injuries are particularly rankled when sportsbooks don't or won't void that play, a decision which essentially cancels the entire parlay ticket.
Fanatics has confirmed that it has paid out approximately $3.5 million this season to more than 100,000 NFL bettors whose straight bets were voided or whose parlays were given second chances due to the Fair Play program – and a handful of players saw major paydays as a result of the initiative:
- A Pennsylvania Fanatics bettor took home $66,000 – the biggest Fair Play payday of the season – when his $100 five-leg parlay was kept alive despite an injury to Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones in a game against the New York Jets.
- A Connecticut customer saw more than $22,000 hit his account when he was the beneficiary of two Fair Play calls. Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel both left their respective games early, and the player cashed the other nine legs of his $20 parlay.
- A player in Michigan earned more than $13,000 on his nine-leg parlay that shrunk to eight after an illness limited Samuel to just four plays in the 49ers' 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in a Week 7 rematch of Super Bowl 58. That customer had wagered $50 on the parlay.
- A Virginia bettor turned a $55 wager into a $7,863 win when Samuel was removed from his eight-leg parlay.
- A New York customer collected a $4,430 payday on a $1, 14-leg parlay that was reduced by one when Jalen Hurts left early with a concussion in the Philadelphia Eagles' 36-33 loss to the Commanders in a Week 16 preview of Sunday's NFC title game.
Improvements on the way
Fanatics believes it has a great program in place – and with more than 1.5 million social impressions, a reach of over 11.9 million and nearly 5,000 mentions on its Fair Play initiative, the buzz is indeed strong. Four in five customers who participated in a recent Fanatics survey said they believe Fair Play is "better than what other sportsbooks offer."
That said, the sports betting, sports card, and apparel giant is always looking to improve – and believes it has done just that heading into the conference championships. Among the new features available to customers this weekend:
- Fair Play Badging – An icon is applied to any selection that meets Fair Play criteria, making it easier for customers to identify bets that benefited from Fair Play.
- Branded Modal – When customers select the Fair Play badge, they’ll see a branded modal that improves their understanding of the Fair Play initiative and its benefits.
- Dynamic Language for Share-a-Bet – When a customer shares a bet that has benefited from Fair Play, the shared message now includes the exact amount they won, a reference to Fair Play and Fanatics, and the winning bet slip.
Expect Fanatics to continue to fine-tune the Fair Play process ahead of the Super Bowl and beyond.
