HELENA — Unfortunately, the UM’s Grizzlies lost the FCS championship game against South Dakota’s Jackrabbits on Sunday. But for some, there was a silver lining. The largest ever Sports Bet Montana handle for a Griz game was wagered for Sunday’s big game.
It brought in a handle of $328,000, the most ever wagered through Sports Bet Montana during a Griz game. This is more than any bets placed for any Griz vs. Cats games wagered through Sports Bet Montana.
To help put that in perspective the average handle for the 2023 season for UM’s Grizzlies, excluding Sunday’s game, was $56,000.
Brady Schulz, Sports Betting Coordinator at Montana Lottery, says that Cats fans very well may have rallied around their opposition in the face of the National Championship.
“Montanans stick together, you know. Even though our team's out, we’ll still root for these guys ‘cause some of these guys are from Montana and we still want them to do well and it's fun to watch, so,” says Schulz.
The payout for Sunday’s game was 76% with a total amount of bets at 8,000.
Sports Bet Montana began in 2020. Since then, it’s had around $179 million worth of handles. And before operating costs, about $8.9 million of that has gone to the state to support the general fund as well as to help fund STEM scholarships.
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