Gamblers bet on AAF despite no history

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. >> Almost no one knows the players and there’s virtually no history to look back on.

But that’s not stopping gamblers from making — and bookmakers from taking — bets on America’s newest professional football league, the Alliance of American Football (AAF).

With one weekend of games under its belt, the league has already drawn interest from some bettors — not nearly the action of a typical NFL game but enough to encourage sportsbooks that the fledgling league’s games are worth offering on a betting menu.

While no bookmaker would reveal precisely how much was bet on last weekend’s inaugural slate of games, many said they were encouraged.

“It was more than I expected,” said Joe Asher, CEO of William Hill US, which operates books in Nevada, New Jersey and several other states. “Tiny in comparison to the NFL, but not bad considering it’s a brand new league.”

Las Vegas sportsbooks also reported mild interest. Jay Kornegay, vice president of race and sportsbook operations at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook, said AAF games drew bets at about the same rate as an average college basketball game.

“It was light in football terms, but understandably so,” he said. “Some books had pretty robust action, comparable to an NBA

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