A reporter who thought he was offering Super Bowl bettors an inside service sings a different tune after facing backlash.
Zach Maskavich of WESH 2 News in Central Florida posted a Twitter video Friday in which he timed the live rehearsal of the national anthem from outside the Raymond James Stadium, the site of Super Bowl 2021.
The duet’s rendition, performed by Jazmine Sullivan and Eric Church, was timed by Maskavich to 2 minutes and 16 seconds.
In the gambling world, the length of the national anthem is a popular Super Bowl bet, so that’s very important information. Maskavich’s Twitter account has 1,687 followers, but his video was viewed more than 585,000 times Saturday at 5:00 PM.
Before the video went viral, the over / under for the national anthem was about two minutes, a second or a second, according to AwfulAnnouncing.com. But that quickly changed when a reported cash flow came in. That increased the odds on one book from -110 on each side to -1,500 on the over, and forced some sportsbooks to stop betting on that wad.
According to ESPN, Maskavich’s “friends had asked him to keep an eye out for inside information on everything from the color of Gatorade the teams were using, to tidbits about the preliminary matches and the half-time music performances.”
Maskavich has discovered what many reporters already know is true about social media: People can get mean when they hide behind anonymity. His responses are filled with anger for influencing the rules at sportsbooks.
“I felt like it was going to gain some traction leading up to the Super Bowl and people who like prop bets,” Maskavich told ESPN. ‘But I didn’t think it would explode like that. People contact me wondering if Vegas paid me for it, and all those other crazy things. “