The 2020 NFL season kicks off Thursday, and DraftKings is in the mood to celebrate with Iowa sports bettors.
Thursday’s game features the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Houston Texans on 8:20 p.m. EST Sept. 10. The game will air live on NBC.
DraftKings is offering a promotion that allows you to place a Kansas City +101 wager.
DraftKings giving you Chiefs +101
The sportsbook is offering new Iowa bettors a $101 bonus bet on the Chiefs versus Texans.
Their latest offer is pretty simple. You get to bet on the Chiefs +101 points for Thursday’s game.
The promotion, which began Sept. 1, will run until kickoff on Thursday.
Iowa bettors receive a single-use odds boost for the Chiefs to cover a 101 point spread. So, as long as the Chiefs don’t lose to the Texans by 102 points, you win.
The max wager for the promotion is $50; the odds are -110.
You must select the Chiefs to cover the +101 market and apply the boost to your bet slip before placing the bet.
The promotion excludes the following wagers:
- Live bets
- Parlays
- bonus bets
- Cash-out bets
- Voided bets
- Odds boosts
One qualifying bet is available per user.
Per Iowa’s in-person registration policy, new online sports betting customers must visit a retail sportsbook first. If you are a new DraftKings customer, visit one of its retail sportsbook locations at Wild Rose Clinton, Wild Rose Jefferson or Wild Rose Emmetsburg to register.
The offer is only available online in Iowa, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Chiefs already a big favorite for Thursday’s game
As if getting 101 points isn’t incentive enough, oddsmakers see the Chiefs as a big favorite in Thursday’s contest anyway.
Iowa sportsbooks see the Chiefs as the clear favorite. DraftKings lists Kansas City as a 9-point favorite at home against the Texans on Thursday.
On the moneyline, Kansas City holds -435 odds to win straight up. Houston has +335 odds to pull off the victory. Oddsmakers list the over/under total at 53 points.
Opening odds in May had Houston as a 9.5-point favorite. The spread grew to 10 points and hit a low of 8.5 before settling in at 9 points entering the week.
The Chiefs lead the all-time series with the Texans, 7-5.
Iowa sports bettors should be plenty confident in this wager. In NFL history, a team has never lost by 102 points.
The NFL record for margin of victory was 73 when the Chicago Bears beat the Washington NFL team on Dec. 8, 1940, 73-0.
Mahomes gets record contract from Chiefs
The winners of Super Bowl LIV didn’t hesitate to lock up their franchise quarterback this offseason.
Patrick Mahomes agreed to a 10-year, $503 million extension in July. The contract includes $477 million in guarantee mechanisms.
In three seasons with the Chiefs, Mahomes has thrown for 9,412 yards and 76 touchdowns. That includes 5,097 yards and 50 touchdowns in 2018, an MVP season.
Mahomes elevated the play of Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill in recent seasons. The two combined for over 2,700 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns in 2018.
In 2019, the two combined for over 2,000 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Texans ink Watson to new deal
It’s been a busy offseason for the Houston Texans, who won the AFC South in 2019 with a 10-6 record.
The first noteworthy move was a blockbuster trade. Houston sent star receiver DeAndre Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round draft pick to the Arizona Cardinals for running back David Johnson. Houston also received a 2020 second-round draft pick and a 2021 fourth-round selection.
Last weekend, the Texans inked up quarterback Deshaun Watson to a four-year, $160 million contract extension. The deal is the second-largest in NFL history, sitting behind only Mahomes’ latest agreement.
Watson has been the face of the Texans in recent seasons. He threw for 3,852 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2019. Also, he rushed for 413 yards and seven scores.
Over his career, Watson has 9,716 passing yards and 71 touchdowns with 29 interceptions. He has also run for 1,233 yards and 14 scores.
