The Chiefs are the favorite in Super Bowl betting; Patrick Mahomes is the best first-place player
David PurdumESPN staff writer3 minutes to read
Shannon and Stephen A. disagree over the NFL MVP this season
Shannon Sharpe chose Patrick Mahomes and Stephen A. Smith with Lamar Jackson for the NFL Most Valuable Player Award this season.
The Oddsmakers have tied Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs as Super Bowl favorites, continuing their recent run as an NFL winning team.
Caesars Sportsbook defeated the Chiefs 6-1 to win the Super Bowl Thursday morning, hours before the season opener against the Detroit Lions.
Mahomes is also a favorite to win regular season MVP this season at 6-1. Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is next at 7-1 in Caesars Sportsbook MVP odds.
It’s the fourth time in the past five years that the Chiefs have entered the season as the Super Bowl favorites in the sports books. The Bills were a preseason favorite in the Super Bowl last year. In the past two decades, the New England Patriots (2007-2011) and the Chiefs have been the only teams that have been the favorite teams to bet on the Super Bowl in four of the five years.
Kansas City’s 6-1 odds this year are comparable to previous seasons, three of which ended in Super Bowl appearances, including a pair of comeback wins by Mahomes.
The Philadelphia Eagles (15-2), who lost to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl last season, have the second-best title odds in sports betting to start the season. However, the Eagles have the support of the betting crowd. More bets have been placed on Philadelphia winning the Super Bowl than on any other FanDuel team.
The San Francisco 49ers (9-1), Bills (9-1) and Bengals (10-1) make up the next tier of Super Bowl contenders in Caesars Sportsbook.
The New York Jets, who had 200-1 long shots to win the Super Bowl last season, are 16-1 this year with quarterback Aaron Rodgers under the quarterback. The Jets drew bets throughout the offseason after opening at 40-1, and remains one of the popular bets for winning the Super Bowl. In fact, the Jets winning the Super Bowl would cost Caesars Sportsbook more money than any other team.
The largest Super Bowl bet so far this season in Caesars Sportsbook, came from an unknown Nevada bookie, who placed a $20,000 bet on the Las Vegas Raiders to win the Super Bowl at odds of 40-1. The bet will win $800,000 net.
The Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals are two of the biggest hitting teams in the Super Bowl, with both odds around 200-1. A DraftKings spokesperson told ESPN that they received an $89 bet on the Texans-Cardinals Super Bowl with odds of 10,000-1.
The 49ers are the biggest favorites in the division and are listed at -185 to win the NFC West. The Jacksonville Jaguars (-175, AFC South), Chiefs (-170, AFC West) and Eagles (-140, NFC East) are also favorites in their respective divisions.
The Chiefs were the 4.5-point favorite over the Lions going into the season opener on Thursday. The point difference is down this week, by Kansas City -6.5, after news of tight end Travis Kelsey suffered a knee injury in practice. The Chiefs have officially listed Kelce as questionable.
