Bettors win big on Kansas City, Taylor Swift: ‘Chiefs, OT were very disappointing’
For the past two weeks, there’s been all sorts of Super Bowl betting chatter about the public masses backing Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Well, the Chiefs gave the people what they wanted, although it took overtime to do so.
And that was a double-whammy for most bookmakers. Still, following K.C.’s 25-22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, Circa Sports director of operations Jeff Benson took it in stride.
“Chiefs and OT were very disappointing. However, as always, the lights will come on in the morning. Nobody, including my own mother, feels bad when the house loses,” Benson said.
Benson and a few other oddsmakers help recap an exhilarating finish to Super Bowl LVIII and the 2023-24 season.
Circa Millions
Prior to kickoff Sunday, it was a booming day at Circa Sports in downtown Las Vegas, just a few miles away from Allegiant Stadium. Vegas was hosting its first Super Bowl — though definitely not its last. And bettors were packed in, firing away.
Two bettors in particular fired in a big way at Circa. One placed a $1 million wager on Chiefs +2, and another put $1.1 million on 49ers -1.5. The latter was tied for the largest reported Super Bowl bet. Between that Chiefs bet and a plethora more tickets and money on the Kansas City spread and moneyline, Circa would’ve preferred the $1.1 million Niners bet to cash.
But Circa was hardly alone. Pregame, John Murray, executive director of The SuperBook, said:
“We need the 49ers. We want it to be a low-scoring game, not just to go Under on the total, but props will do better if it’s a relatively boring game,” Murray said.
At the end of the third quarter, Murray had almost exactly what he wanted — a 13-10 game, albeit with the Chiefs leading. But ultimately, the contest went to overtime tied at 19 and, with 47 points by game’s end, wound up surpassing The SuperBook’s closing total of 46.5.
Plus, the public was all over Overtime Yes in the Super Bowl prop bets market.
“Tough day for us with the Chiefs’ comeback,” Murray said. “The game going into OT was costly in a lot of ways, and of course, we wanted the 49ers to win.”
It’s Never Under ‘Til It’s Over
BetMGM Nevada, the national sportsbook operator’s Las Vegas market, also had a bumpy day. But bumpy for the books meant smooth for most of the bettors.
“We lost huge on K.C. moneyline and the game going to overtime,” BetMGM Nevada’s Scott Shelton said. “The only market that kept us from total annihilation was the total going Under 47.5.”
One of the only sportsbooks — in Nevada or nationally — to seemingly escape the carnage was the South Point here in Vegas. Sportsbook director Chris Andrews indicated it wasn’t a great day behind the counter, but he did better than many of his bookmaking peers.
“We [won] a relatively small percentage. Nothing great but not too bad either,” Andrews said. “We wound up a little better than I expected.”
Swift an ATM for ATS
Mega-international pop star Taylor Swift was, of course, on hand for boyfriend Travis Kelce on Sunday night. It marked the 13th Chiefs game Swift attended this season, and if you bet on Kansas City — whether on the moneyline or against the spread (ATS) — you made some coin in those games.
BetMGM data analyst John Ewing referenced this after the game.
That 8-4-1 ATS mark is certainly a money-maker. Throw away the one push, which is a refunded bet, and that’s a spread-covering rate of 66.6%. Any bettor would be over the moon with such a record.
On the plus side of the ledger for bookmakers: Kelce didn’t win MVP. It’s no surprise that the honor went to Patrick Mahomes. Nor did Kelce cash in the First TD or Anytime TD markets. At BetMGM nationally, Kelce was the most-bet player on all three of those props.
Among the big Kelce bets was a $10,000 MVP wager at +1300 that would’ve cashed for $130,000.
A Little To Make a Lot
We usually wrap up these pieces each Monday with big bets. There were so many monster plays on the Super Bowl, though, that it’d take far too much time to recount them all. Along with the two aforementioned million-dollar wagers, there were six more seven-figure plays reported by the time Sunday’s game kicked off.
Obviously, the $1 million Chiefs +2 bet at Circa got to the finish line, profiting $909,090.90 for a total payout of $1,909,090.90. BetMGM took a $1.1 million bet on Chiefs +2, with the bettor netting $1 million for a $2.1 million total payout.
And per Ben Fawkes, a Fanatics/PointsBet customer put a cool million on 49ers first half -0.5. That won when San Fran took a 10-3 lead to the locker room, giving the bettor an approximate $900,000 profit and $1.9 million total payout.
But we’re into the fun stuff, too, particularly much smaller bets that pay out big. This fits the bill: A FanDuel Sportsbook customer put $200 on a non-QB to throw a touchdown at +4000 odds.
The first TD of the game came on a trick play, with 49ers wideout Jauan Jennings throwing across the field to Christian McCaffrey, who raced 21 yards for the score. That gave the Niners a 10-0 lead late in the second quarter.
For betting purposes, the FanDuel customer won $8,000 on that play. Now that’s some serious ROI. Not a bad way to end the NFL season.
Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas.
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