Sportsbooks Win Out on Super Bowl, Thanks to Kansas City

SportsBook Win Out on Super Bowl, Thanks to Chiefs

In a thrilling game, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles. The Chiefs were the 1.5-point underdog, as most of the country had money on the Eagles as the favorite. Kansas City’s win paid off big time for several high rollers. 

How the Game Unfolded

As the first half of the game unraveled it certainly looked like those who wagered on the Eagles were going to have a big payout. We saw the largest Super Bowl bet placed three hours before kick-off at Caesar’s Sportsbook. One unlucky bettor placed a wager of $2.2 million on Eagles -1.5. 

BetMGM also saw two customers place substantial bets on the Eagles. One wager of $1.25 million on Eagles moneyline -125 and another for $1 million on Eagles moneyline -125. 

But as we know, Kansas City pulled through in the second half. The Chiefs recovered from a 10-point deficit and took it home with a 3-point lead over the Eagles. 

Michigan Bettors Win on the Over While Split on the Winner

In Michigan, the majority of the bets were on Philadelphia, although the handle was a different story. 

At BetMGM Michigan, we saw a 50-50 split on the handle between both teams, while 62% of the tickets went to the Eagles minus the points. At DraftKings Sportsbook Michigan, nearly 70% had the Eagles as the favorite, yet 55% of the handle went to the Chiefs. 

Where Michigan Sportsbooks got hurt during the Super Bowl was on the over. Both BetMGM (74%) and DraftKings (68%) experienced the over being the majority of the handle. 

How Did Sportsbooks Do?

“The Chiefs winning saved us. Eagles and Over would’ve been pretty ugly,” SuperBook executive director John Murray said.

Bettors at DraftKings took advantage of what’s called the “octopus prop”. An octopus prop asks whether or not a player will score a touchdown and the following 2-point conversion at 14-1 odds.

“We had an excellent day overall,” DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello said. “The octopus prop got its tentacles around us.”

$1.1 billion was projected to be legally wagered on Super Bowl 57, so the Chiefs’ win was what the Sportsbooks needed to make up for the game going over.

“Mahomes was a really big win for the public on the MVP market and to go over his passing touchdown total [2.5],” said Craig Mucklow, vice president of trading for Caesars Sportsbook. “Kelce going over on the receiving yards and scoring a touchdown was also big for the public.”

All in all, the Kansas City win was the most optimal result for sportsbooks. 

How Some Folks Were Placing Bets During the Game 

Thanks to Simplebet providing data on in-game odds on micro events, in-game betting proved to be a popular avenue for fans to place bets this year. SimpleBet saw a $1 million wagered during the Chiefs’ final drive where Harrison Butker’s field goal with eight seconds left. 

Additionally, the BetMGM Sports Lounge at the MGM Grand Detroit took in approximately $800,000 in handle on the game. On Sunday, the Sports Lounge saw nearly $700,000 wagered on the Super Bowl. 

Some of the Most Popular Prop Bets

BetMGM saw Travis Kelce as the most popular prop bet across the country. Fans wagered that Kelce would be the first touchdown scorer (+650) and score a touchdown anytime (-125) were the two most popular. 

According to DraftKings, a few of the most popular non-TD prop bets included:

• Travis Kelce Over 6.5 receptions: Finished with 6
• Quez Watkins Under 1.5 receptions: Finished with 1
• Patrick Mahomes Over 38.5 passing attempts: Finished with 27
• Dallas Goedert Over 45.5 receiving yards: Finished with 60
• Patrick Mahomes over 290.5 passing yards: Finished with 182

Mac Daniel is a writer for PlayOnlineCasino and PlayOnlineSportsBetting. He has experience writing about a wide variety of topics, including healthcare, tourism, non-profit organizations, and most recently casino and sportsbetting news. To check out more of his work, visit: playonlinemichigan.com