FanDuel Bettors Strike Gold With Absurd $20 Million Field Goal Parlay

The kick is up—and it’s good! For the American betting public!

A handful of savvy NFL bettors were rewarded for their confidence in Week 2 when a +20000 pre-made parlay cashed. FanDuel sportsbook offered a deal where, if a player from every team in the 1:00 p.m., 4:05 p.m., and 4:25 p.m. games made a field goal, they would win 200x their stake.

Needless to say, the best cashed, and FanDuel lost a reported $20 million to its pro-kick patronage. We wonder if this special bet will pop up on the menu again this season.

Online sportsbooks have to accept these types of losses every now and again as part of a greater battle to attract and retain customers from their competition. But on days like last Sunday, they result in major gut punches for the bookies.

The deal for NFL Week 2 was also available at DraftKings sportsbook but for a much shorter +3000. The line value at FanDuel dropped to 130-to-one by the time kick-off rolled around for the 1:00 games because of the amount of wagers that had poured in.

One person who had no trouble covering their end of the bargain was Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, who drilled five field goals in the 4:25 p.m. game against the New York Jets. That made for a pleasant ending to what had been a stressful build-up.

The Kansas City Chiefs put bettors through a scare, but Harrison Butker nailed a 38-yarder with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter.
 
The New York Giants almost blew the whole bet for everyone in their closer-than-expected encounter with the Arizona Cardinals, but Graham Gano capped off a late-game drive with a 34-yard kick with just 19 seconds on the clock. The rest of the kickers pulled through from that point on, and the bet hit against all odds.

FanDuel released a message on social media confirming that they had paid out over $20 million to legal sports bettors during Sunday Night football. One X (formerly Twitter) user confirmed they won nearly $320k from bets equaling $1,584.

KICKERS FOR THE WIN! 🤑

Every NFL team made at least 1 FG during the afternoon slates of Week 2...

Finance team just called: we're paying out more than $20 MILLION to FanDuel customers who locked in this bet! 😳 pic.twitter.com/ZBOMGe8bYq

— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) September 18, 2023

FanDuel is the leader in American sports betting and has enough revenue to afford the one-time loss. They’re actually accustomed to reinvesting portions of their revenue to the betting public, whether that be through promotions, advertisements, or special deals such as the field goal parlay.

In 2022, the operator’s parent company, Flutter Entertainment PLC, said that it “reinvested [large winnings] in promotional generosity for our customers.”

A recent example of that generosity was the company’s $10 million kick featuring retired tight end Rob Gronkowski, which stipulated that as long as Gronk attempted the kick, and no matter if it went in or not, all users that entered the promotion would share a portion of the pot.

The bet with the longest odds in FanDuel’s weekly special menu for NFL Week 3 is the New England Patriots to score at least one touchdown on offense, defense, and special teams against the New York Jets for +13000.

Other examples of weekly specials this week include any opening kickoff to be returned for a touchdown in the 1:00 p.m. time slot (+1500), T.J. Watt or Alex Highsmith to score a TD (+2500), and Derrick Henry and Justin Fields to both score the first TD in their respective games (+7500).

Primetime matchups in NFL Week 3 include the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday Night Football and a Monday Night Football doubleheader featuring the Philadelphia Eagles against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Rams against the Cincinnati Bengals.