One of the most intriguing aspects of the Super Bowl is the incredible amounts of money that are wagered on the game. Every single year there are literally millions of dollars bet on different aspects of the big game. That includes bets that come in at over $1 million. Super Bowl 53 will not be any different with a substantial amount of money already wagered on the outcome of this year’s showdown between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams. Here is a closer look at the number of million-dollar bets that will likely be taken for Super Bowl 53.
Total amount of seven-figure wagers on Super Bowl LIII at Nevada sportsbooks (as reported by ESPN Chalk):
Over 6.5 (-110)
Under 6.5 (-120)
What We Saw Last Year
A year ago, there were five $1 million bets placed on Super Bowl 52. The craziest part about that action is that four of the five $1 million wagers were made on the Philadelphia Eagles to upset the Patriots. One winner that bet $1 million on the Eagles at +155 odds ended up with a $1,550,000 profit. It certainly isn’t uncommon for these types of massive wagers to come in on the Super Bowl. However, it really depends on the matchup and whether the high rollers think they can make a substantial profit. For example, the previous year there was only one wager of at least $1 million placed on the Super Bowl 51 matchup between the Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Last year, the majority of the money was on the Eagles and that included four of the five major million-dollar wagers.
Related: Super Bowl Betting | Prop Betting
Early Betting
This year, the bulk of the early sports betting action has been on New England. In fact, the sports books took so much action on the Patriots that they were forced to adjust their lines significantly. New England opened as a +1 underdog once the final teams were set. However, after just 10 minutes the Westgate Sportsbook, which is considered the standard for NFL lines, quickly moved the line from New England +1 to Patriots -2. However, that wasn’t enough as more money continued to pour in on New England, which has forced the books to move the line to New England -2.5 and then to the Patriots -3. However, once New England moved to -3 there was some significant buy back in the other direction with money on the Rams, which forced the sports books to move the Patriots back to -2.5. That is likely the key number where the line will stay throughout the week leading up to Super Bowl 53.
Betting Expected To Break Records
While there haven’t been any million-dollar bets on Super Bowl 53 just yet, more than 90-percent of the money wagered on the game has come in on the Patriots — including a pair of wagers on New England in which more than $100K was risked. By the time the game kicks off, there should be at least one million-dollar bet on the Patriots and it’s quite likely that the sports books will need the Rams to cover.
We’ve seen the handle for Super Bowl betting in Nevada increase in each of the last four years with last year reaching $158,586,934. That’s only a fraction of the real action as most of the bets on the big game will be placed offshore, online and in other shops around the world.
We still haven’t heard of a million-dollar bet being reported but you can expect at least a couple before kickoff.
