Odds boosts and how the public is betting the Bears as Illinois mobile registration opens

The 2020 football season is less than three weeks away, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for sports fans in Illinois. The state is temporarily allowing for online registration following Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker’s executive order suspending a requirement in the state’s sports betting law requiring in-person registration for mobile sports wagering accounts. The executive order is in effect until September 19.

If you’re looking to register in Illinois, DraftKings at Casino Queen Sportsbook is offering a boost on the Chicago Bears Super Bowl odds. The Bears are currently +4000 to win the Super Bowl, which is tied with the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams for 16th. The book is boosting the Bears odds in Illinois only to +5000. That drops the Bears in line with the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, and Houston Texans.

The Bears have a strong defense that ranked 8th in overall efficiency last year. Khalil Mack enters his third season with the team since Oakland traded him and will look to bounce back after a 2019 that was a bit of a step back from his 2018 season. The significantly bigger question is who will start at quarterback.

Nick Foles and Mitchell Trubisky are competing for the job, and over the weekend, head coach Matt Nagy said a decision was not coming soon. He could simply mean the specific announcement and might have an idea of who the Week 1 starter will be. Of course, given the quality of the two quarterbacks in question, even if he has a decision, it will still be a shaky one.

The book had odds on who would claim the job, and while they are currently off the board, they will likely return. When they came down, Trubisky was favored at -159 while Foles was at +125. 79 percent of wagers were on Trubisky while 66 percent of the handle was on Foles.

The Bears win total is listed at 7.5, with the over priced at -130 and the under at +107. Bettors are not big fans of the Bears this year, with 93 percent of bets and 52 percent of the handle on the under. Chicago has the third best odds to win the NFC North at +380, but are getting the lowest amount of handle at 20 percent. The Packers (+180) lead the way with 30 percent, followed by the Vikings (+160) at 28 percent, and then Lions (+550) at 22 percent.

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