‘Cocky and wrong once again’: Clay Travis $1 million bet goes horribly wrong

Clay TravisConservative sports commentator Clay Travis has previously been mocked for his sports betting failures. As it turns out, he’s not all that good at predicting oil futures, either.Travis offered to bet $1 million that oil prices would drop below $84 a barrel by Nov. 1. With the deadline here and oil prices topping $100 a barrel, plenty of people are now calling on him to pay up, preferably to charity.The $1 Million BetOil prices jumped after the United States and Israel launched a war with Iran on Feb. 28, rising from around $68 a barrel to $80, according to Mediaite. In April, Travis insisted that gas would soon be cheaper than it was before the war.The Bulwark’s Tim Miller pushed back, pointing out that a year of higher gas prices would hurt people who aren’t millionaires. That’s when Travis upped the ante.“I must have missed your deep concern over gas prices during the years of Biden when the prices were higher than today. Today we are at $84. I will bet you $1 million that by November 1st of this year prices will be under $84 a barrel on this price metric,” Travis wrote on X, sharing a screenshot of the price of West Texas Intermediate crude.Even at the time, some pointed out the flaw in Travis’ logic.“Clay Travis wants to bet a million dollars on gas prices, but doesn’t know the difference between the price of gasoline and the price of oil,” wrote James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds and contributing writer for The Atlantic.On Friday, the last trading day before the deadline, West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $102.95. Miller didn’t waste any time.“While I don’t casually bet $1 million on things, turns out @ClayTravis was cocky and wrong once again, this time on oil prices. Today Crude Oil Futures are at $102.95, well above $84,” wrote Miller. “Maybe a donation to a group that is struggling to make ends meet in this economy is in order.”‘Cocky and Wrong’It’s worth noting that Miller never officially accepted the bet, but that didn’t stop people from mocking Travis and calling on him to pay up, anyway.“Where I grew up a bet is a bet. Count me in for charity when @ClayTravis lives up to his word,” wrote James Carville, the longtime Democratic strategist.“I call on @ClayTravis to make his one million dollar lost bet payable to Catholic Charities Nashville,” wrote Christopher Hale, a former Democratic congressional nominee in Tennessee. “They lost 75% of their federal grants during the Trump Administration.”“I think you should sue him for the money, Tim. This was a public wager. Pledge to donate the money to a charity,” replied Norman Ornstein, a political scientist and contributing editor for The Atlantic.“Historically, betting $1 million is way more fun than paying it out when you lose,” wrote Brian Lowry, who previously wrote for CNN, Variety, and the Los Angeles Times.“In non sports news: Oil needs to drop nearly $20 a barrel today or @ClayTravis owes a charity $1 million,” wrote Reed Carringer, a former writer and radio host for Rocky Top Insider.Travis has continued posting on X since Miller’s challenge, but he has not addressed the bet, according to Mediaite. Needless to say, it doesn’t sound like this one is going away anytime soon.It has already been a rough week for Travis, who was caught in a questionable story about eating at The Cheesecake Factory as a kid.The post ‘Cocky and wrong once again’: Clay Travis $1 million bet goes horribly wrong appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.