BALTIMORE _ Even if Lamar Jackson doesn't win NFL Most Valuable Player honors, one sportsbook has decided to reward bettors who thought he would.
With still six weeks left in the regular season, PointsBet, which operates in New Jersey and Iowa, announced Wednesday that it would pay out all bets on the Ravens quarterback to be named MVP. Jackson is now considered a front-runner for the award, along with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
In the summer, though, he was a long shot. PointsBet said in a release that at the beginning of the season, a $100 bet on Jackson to win MVP would've been worth a total payoff of $7,100. Now, with Jackson's dominant play guiding the Ravens to a six-game winning streak, a $100 bet would net only $230.
"We've really enjoyed watching Lamar Jackson make the impossible look easy every Sunday," PointsBet CEO Johnny Aitken said in a release. "Considering some of his recent performances and looking ahead at the Ravens' remaining schedule, it's pretty clear to us that Lamar is simply a freight train that won't be stopped.
"He is steaming toward well-deserved NFL MVP honors as he racks up the yards, rewrites the record books and redefines the quarterback position," Aitken continued. "Given that, we think it's only fair to reward all of our clients who had the foresight to place their bets on the right long shot."
PointsBet said that Jackson accounts for 13% of its MVP bet liability, or the amount it stands to lose on a certain outcome, behind only Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey. If a player other than Jackson is named MVP, PointsBet will pay out those bets as well.
