It was a money-making Super Bowl for the sportsbooks after the Philadelphia Eagles notched a blowout victory over the two-time defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
Chiefs Loss Is Sportsbooks Gain
The Chiefs were small 1-point favorites at most of the nation’s best mobile sportsbooks, and although a decent amount of money was wagered on the Eagles, a blowout loss was not something anyone but the most diehard Eagles fans were anticipating.
However, that’s precisely what happened in Super Bowl 59 as the Eagles pass rush was relentless, sacking Patrick Mahomes six times and forcing two critical interceptions, including a pick-six. The Chiefs rushing attack resembled more of a mild affront as Kansas City managed only 49 yards with Mahomes responsible for more than half of that number.
Benefitting from Eagles’ Blowout
When the dust settled, Philadelphia romped to a 42-20 victory, which evaporated any hope of a three-peat for the Chiefs. That wide margin of victory proved to be a good thing for the sportsbooks, as did the lack of substantial numbers from stars Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce, neither of whom made much of an impact in the game.
Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley had only 57 rushing yards, well under the posted total of 112 yards at many of the major sportsbooks, and an attractive “over” bet for many bettors. Barkley never found the end zone either, which was another favorite prop bet on the board.
Likewise, Travis Kelce had just 39 receiving yards, well short of the 60.5 receiving yards posted at many sportsbooks. And despite scoring a touchdown in 15 career playoff games, tied for the most in NFL history, Kelce was also shut out of the end zone.
Joey Feazel, Caesars Sportsbook’s head of football, said, “Overall, Super Bowl LIX was a decent result for the sportsbook, as more customers backed the Chiefs in this game and in the futures pool than the Eagles. There were a variety of touchdown scorers, which would usually be favorable to the customers, but unfortunately (for bettors, not sportsbooks), Saquon Barkley was the most popular SGP leg, and he did not see the end zone.”
Bookmakers Are Talking
Although the official numbers are not completely in, the American Gaming Association estimated the Super Bowl handle at licensed US sportsbooks would be $1.39 billion, an increase of $140 million from last year’s $1.25 billion.
Historic Betting Volume
“Super Bowl LIX was the single biggest betting event in the history of BetMGM—it took the most bets and was one of the best single-game results in company history,” said Senior Trading Manager at BetMGM Christian Cipollini. “Super Bowl bettors cashed in on Eagles moneyline and Jalen Hurts’ Super Bowl MVP, but both defenses slowing down Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce netted a great result for us.”
Joe Brennan, CEO of Prime Sports, also had similar results at his sportsbooks, stating that the outcome was a “great result for us. With the exception of the game going over, Philly winning in a blowout is what we needed, and we got it.”
The money-making single-game parlays were smashed by several statistically underperforming players, and had the total gone under 48.5, it would have elevated a very good day to an exceptional outcome for the sportsbooks.
Executive Director of Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook John Murray also noted Worthy’s late touchdown: “We did very well. We needed the Eagles. The garbage-time TDs late putting the game over and cashing a lot of props prevented us from having a home run day, but we did well on the game.
