FanDuel has decided to pay out all of its Alabama national title futures bets.
  

FanDuel Sportsbook made sports betting history by being the first legal sports betting operator in the United States to pay out future wagers on the college football national championship , over a month before the final game is played. 

The Crimson Tide are 13-point favorites to beat Georgia in Saturday’s SEC Championship and -250 to win the 2019 College Football Playoff.

The move will immediately cost FanDuel $40,000, and could potentially cost them $400,000 when it’s all said and done.

“Alabama’s historic and seemingly inevitable march to Levi’s Stadium deserved a history making gesture to our customers,” said Mike Raffensperger, CMO of FanDuel Group. “While the college football season has not had too many surprises, we wanted to surprise our customers today, thank them for their loyalty, and prove there are More Ways to Win on FanDuel.”

The payout involved all future bets on Alabama to win it all that were made before 5 p.m. Friday. 

The Tide opened at nearly 2-to-1 odds before the season started, or plus 195, meaning a $100 bet would return $195.

If their  traders are incorrect about the superiority of Alabama and they fail to win the championship, FanDuel will payout all wagers on the winning team as per usual.

This is just bizarre. It goes against everything gambling stands for. 

Stupid gimmick.