Bettors who jumped on the Eagles in the early Super Bowl lines posted by sportsbooks may be among those happiest to see Philadelphia back in the Super Bowl five years after their last win there.
After the NFL conference championship games both ended Sunday night, with the Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals following the Eagles’ 31-7 domination of the San Francisco 49ers, the major online sportsbooks quickly posted Super Bowl lines that either slightly favored the Chiefs or had the game as a pick’em.
And within minutes, that changed for the Feb. 12 game in Glendale, Arizona. Early betting flipped Philadelphia to the favorite, mostly by 2 points as of 8 a.m. Monday. One Pennsylvania site, Wind Creek/Betfred, even favored the Eagles by 2.5 points. Two sportsbooks, FanDuel and FOX Bet, had a point spread of just 1.5, but with inflated vig of as much as -120 to bet on the Eagles.
The day never ends!
"We took a pretty significant bet on the Chiefs at pick right away, but after that, it was all Philly." – @SuperBookSports' Casey Degnon (@CDinVegas)
Much more in @VegasInsider #SuperBowlLVII Opening Odds & Action Report:https://t.co/KVYCNIRK07
— Patrick Everson (@PatrickE_Vegas) January 30, 2023
In its lookahead lines for the Super Bowl a week ago, DraftKings actually had the Chiefs as a potential 1-point favorite over the Eagles, but it was among those shifting quickly after the games ended. Caesars Sportsbook also adjusted the line quickly by 2 points toward Philadelphia Sunday night.
“We opened as a pick’em but the market is moving strongly toward the Eagles,” said Adam Pullen, Caesars assistant director of trading, in a press release. “We took some Chiefs money early before we saw a bunch come in on the Eagles. So far, most of the action has been on the Eagles.”
BetMGM was offering the best moneyline return Monday morning on the Eagles at -125, followed by FanDuel at -126.
The points total over/under was 49.5 almost everywhere, but DraftKings and Betway listed it at 50.
Local interest in game should skyrocket
The Super Bowl is always the biggest single betting contest of the year for sportsbooks, and it is certain to be no different this year with the league’s top-seeded teams involved, plus two dynamic quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes. One more interesting factor is that Chiefs coach Andy Reid led the Eagles from 1999-2012.
Pennsylvanians, of course, have a special interest that should boost statewide betting on the game with Philadelphia involved. When the Eagles won the Super Bowl as an underdog over the New England Patriots in 2018, legal sportsbooks were not yet in operation.
The Eagles got a break in the NFC Championship Game when 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was injured in the first quarter, effectively negating the 49ers passing attack from that point forward. Philly’s ferocious defense held San Francisco’s offense to 164 total yards, recovered three fumbles, and sacked 49ers quarterbacks three times.
Hurts thus didn’t have to do anything phenomenal while still recovering from the shoulder sprain that disrupted the end of his regular season, but he looked fine.
Mahomes, meanwhile, was occasionally hobbling Sunday night from a high ankle sprain the week before, though he did lead his team to its third Super Bowl in four years. The Chiefs won on a 45-yard field goal with seconds remaining after Mahomes scrambled from the pocket on the final play from scrimmage and was hit late out of bounds, resulting in a 15-yard penalty.
Mahomes is expected to win the NFL’s regular-season MVP Award, but Hurts is a slight favorite ahead of him in early Super Bowl MVP odds posted by the sportsbooks. BetRivers is among sites offering the best payouts for many Eagles players to win that award, including Hurts at +125, A.J. Brown at +1600, and DeVonta Smith and Miles Sanders, both at +3000.
The MVP Award betting market is just one of hundreds of options Pennsylvanians will have available by Feb. 12 from the 14 online sportsbooks in the state. The number will grow as the game approaches, along with special Super Bowl betting bonuses and boosts that customers should be looking out for.
Right off the bat, DraftKings has removed any vig on the coin toss. Bet it at heads or tails, or the Eagles to win it or the Chiefs, all at even money (+100). That’s just the start of what should be a very interesting two weeks for bettors leading up to their biggest game of the year.
And no bettors should be more interested than those who bet on Philadelphia at odds ranging from 20/1 to 25/1 to win the Super Bowl just before the season started. Their biggest decision now is whether to hedge.
Photo: Bill Streicher/USA TODAY
