New Jersey Sportsbook Refunding Bets On New Orleans Saints After Ref's Blown Call
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — A sportsbook in New Jersey is offering betting credits for customers who bet on the New Orleans Saints due to the widespread belief that the team was victimized by a blown call by referees during its loss Sunday in the NFC championship game.
PointsBet initially said Monday it "will refund all wagers" on the spread and money-line bets on the Saints, who lost the game after officials failed to call a penalty on a Los Angeles Rams defender who leveled a New Orleans receiver long before the ball arrived.
But later in the afternoon, PointsBet said those "refunds" would come in the form of bonus bets, not cash payouts.
If the proper call had been made, the Saints would've been able to run the clock down to the final few seconds, kick a short field goal, and basically win the game and head to the Super Bowl.
Instead, the Rams now had time to tie the game and then ultimately end up victorious in overtime. So it's the Rams, not the Saints, who now have a chance to win it all.
Within minutes of the game ending, the league admitted it blew the call. Not only on the pass interference, but also the head-to-head contact. Two obvious penalties on one play and neither were called.
"They said not only was it interference but the helmet-to-helmet. They just couldn't believe it," New Orleans head coach Sean Payton said.
The Rams will now play the New England Patriots in two weeks at Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)