Betting History of the Super Bowl
The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams have punched their ticket to Super Bowl LVI. Los Angeles has opened as four-point favorites and the game has a total of 49.5. One of the biggest games in sports, and one of the most heavily bet events, the Super Bowl has a rich betting history. Before we dive into the best bets for this year’s Super Bowl, let’s take a look at how this game has been bet in the past.
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The Spread
Across the first 55 Super Bowls, the average spread has been 6.7 points. In recent years, this has trended down with the average spread of the last ten Super Bowls sitting at just 2.9 points. The Rams opened between those numbers as four-point favorites. They are the largest Super Bowl favorite since the New England Patriots lost to the Philadelphia Eagles as 4.5 point favorites in Super Bowl 52.
The largest favorite in Super Bowl history was the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl 29. The 49ers covered the 18.5 point spread with a 49-26 win over the San Diego Chargers. The Super Bowl has been lined at just a point three separate times over the last 56 years with the favorite winning two of those three games.
The favorite is 29-24 against the spread in Super Bowl history with two games finishing as pushes. However, in the last ten Super Bowls, the favorite has won straight up and against the spread just three times. The NFC has a record of 28-25 with a dominant stretch between 1985 and 1995 where they won ten straight Super Bowls, covering in nine of ten.
Super Bowl spreads have trended down in recent years and while the favorites have won more throughout Super Bowl history, the underdogs have owned this game over the last decade. This bodes well for Burrow and the Bengals who head into this game on a seven-game winning streak against the spread.
The Total
As scoring has increased in the NFL, so have Super Bowl totals. The average total in Super Bowl history is 45 points but has risen to 51 over the last ten years. Super Bowl 56 opened just under that mark at 49.5 and has moved down to 48.5. This is the lowest Super Bowl total since the Falcons infamous 28-3 meltdown in 2017 vs the Patriots.
The four Super Bowls since that game have all had totals above 53 with an average of 55.5. Bettors expect this year’s game to be a bit more of a defensive battle as Super Bowl 56’s spread of 48.5 is a whole touchdown lower than that average. If you want to look at historical Super Bowl trends to bet this total, well good luck because the total has an even 27-27 over/under record.
The Teams
The Cincinnati Bengals have reached the Super Bowl two times in team history, losing both games to the San Francisco 49ers. In 1982, the Bengals were one-point underdogs to San Francisco and lost 26-21. The game was closer than it looks as the Bengals scored with 16 seconds remaining to pull within five. Cincinnati’s second appearance was in 1989 where they lost 20-16 to the 49ers as seven-point underdogs.
The Bengals held a 16-13 lead late in that game until Joe Montana threw a 10-yard touchdown pass with 34 seconds remaining to give San Francisco the win. This time Cincinnati will have the special quarterback named Joe as they hope to get their first Super Bowl in three appearances.
The Los Angeles Rams have reached the Super Bowl four times in team history, going 1-3 in those games. Their first appearance came in 1980 when they lost 31-19 as 10.5 point underdogs to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their second appearance came as the St. Louis Rams when they won their first and only Super Bowl against the Tennessee Titans. The Rams were seven-point favorites and won 23-16. Isaac Bruce had a phenomenal 73-yard touchdown with just under two minutes to go to give the Rams the win.
Their next appearance featured some more late-game drama when they lost 20-17 to New England as 14-point favorites. This was the second-biggest upset in Super Bowl history as Brady won his first Super Bowl thanks to a 48-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri as time expired. Most recently, the Rams made it to Super Bowl 53 in 2019 where they lost to Brady again. They lost a defensive battle 13-3 as just 2.5 point underdogs. The Rams are “all-in†this year and are looking to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl and first in Los Angeles.
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Jack O’Brien is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Jack, check out his archive and follow him @JackOBrienNFL.