Sold It

About Sold It

If there’s a National Football League (NFL) betting trend emerging after Week 2, it’s this: bet against the Miami Dolphins, regardless of the spread, and back the Buffalo Bills – particularly the over, according to Bob Scucci, vice-president of Race and Sports Operations, Boyd Gaming Corp.

“Two of the biggest games so far this season have the Bills and the over, both in Week 1 and 2, and the Bills got there both times,” he said. “Bettors remember what teams made them money, and they’re going to keep riding them until they disappoint.”

The Bills opened their season beating the Texans in Houston 36-31, then followed that up with Thursday night’s (Sept. 17) big 41-31 home win over the Detroit Lions. Both games went over the total, and neither was particularly close.

How to play Sold It

Prediction market volume attributable to “takers”—recreational and retail traders who pull liquidity from exchanges—is forecast to reach $190 billion this year.

That estimate arrives courtesy of Macquarie and is well ahead of the research firm’s previous estimate of $169 billion in 2026 taker volume.

Takers is a prediction market industry colloquialism for the market participants that swiftly fill buy and sell orders, thus removing liquidity from the marketplace. Conversely, makers are the market participants viewed as liquidity providers and professional or sharp money.

How to play Sold It

That widening breadth is vital for the industry at a time when some analysts estimate volume could jump to $10 trillion by 2035 – a projection that is largely rooted in other categories surpassing sports for the top spot.  

Nearly a third of respondents told Fullstory that increased event contract breadth could compel them to consistently choose a prediction market over a sportsbook.

Sportsbook operators have an inherent advantage over prediction markets in that the former can offer significantly larger sign-up and retention bonuses and gaming companies are leaning into those expenditures this football season.