Sportsbooks Pause Betting on College Football After Big 10, Pac-12 Postponements

Due to the uncertainty around the 2020 college football season, sportsbooks have stopped taking bets on games for the time being.  

Per ESPN's David Purdum, bookmakers are trying to "determine the best approach to a season in flux" in the wake of the Big Ten and Pac-12 announcing they will be postponing all of their fall sports, including football, until the spring, at the earliest. 

Purdum did note that Caesars Palace's rules "stipulate that bets on the national championship are valid as long as a winner is declared in 2021."

"When weird stuff happens, like all of this, you can't plan for it," Jeff Davis, director of trading for Caesars Sportsbook, told Purdum. "Some of this is going to be handled on a case-by-case situation."

Jeff Stoneback, BetMGM director of trading, told Purdum they will offer refunds to people who bet on teams that don't play: "If you've got LSU and they're declared the winner, you'd get paid. If you have USC, we'll give you a refund."

While there remains a lot to be decided among other conferences, the Big 12 board of directors announced on Wednesday its plan to move forward with a fall sports schedule.

The conference also released a revised football schedule that runs from Sept. 26 through Dec. 5, followed by the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 12 or 19. 

Per ESPN's Andrea Adelson, the SEC and ACC said in separate statements they intend to play a fall football season.