Back in college, mid-1990's pre-internet days, I had a very small bookmaking operation ... we're talking $20-$25 bettors, college kid stuff ... anyway, I offered a buy back at halftime for football. If your side was losing at the half, I would offer to "refund" a portion of your bet in return for tearing up the ticket. They got a piece of their bet back and I locked in a profit. To say it worked would be an understatement.
First thing it accomplished was that $20 bettors became $40 bettors - the insurance made the extra $20 feel like a free roll to bettors. Second thing it accomplished - it put a number of campus bookies out of business b/c people started betting all their football with me. Third thing it accomplished was a spontaneous invite to a foodless lunch hosted by the Samataro brothers who, as it turned out, bankrolled said campus bookies. They offered me an opportunity to work for them. I declined. The nice gentlemen that they were, then offered to partner with me. Again I declined. Instead I "sold" them the rights to the insurance operation for $7k plus a $500 monthly royalty during football season. I was officially out of the sports betting insurance business.
After throwing a decent party and blowing a portion of that money on a bad run at the jai-alai fronton, I took the balance and "hired" a person on the school newspaper staff at each school in the Northeast Conference (later the MAAC). I paid them to get their school's basketball stats from their SID after each game to send to me (snail mail or fax). To my knowledge, I was putting out the only number available on NEC/MAAC basketball games in 1995 & 1996. No more competing with the Samataro brothers, nobody was booking these games.
Who woulda thought that 23 years later you would be able to legally bet on Siena, Rider, etc. on your way into the arena to watch a MAAC tournament game (the MAAC tournament will be moving from Albany to Atlantic City after the 2019 season).