In Super Bowl 54, where the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers, there were 50% more bets laid on the game at New Jersey sportsbooks than the previous Super Bowl. However, that did not generate a win for the state’s betting operators, who took a total loss of over $4 million.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement recently reported that $54.3 million was wagered on the game in the Garden State, which is a significant increase from the $34.8 million wagered on the previous Super Bowl.
For the second year in a row, however, the New Jersey betting firms took a hit on the big game. The 31-20 win by the Chiefs ended up as a total loss of $4.3 million for licensed bookies, which resulted in a negative hold figure of 7.8%. The loss was not as big as last year, when NJ sportsbooks lost $4.5 million as the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3.
Patrick Eichner, who is the communications director for PointsBet, stated the game was an “overall positive result” for his company.
“We won on the key markets of moneyline — late 49ers action swung that one — and total — public spent two weeks pounding the over, and sharp under money didn’t get involved until game day,” he said.
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After the Super Bowl betting lines were released, most of the early money was on the Chiefs. The closer to kickoff it got, however, the more money was bet on the 49ers, and that was a big help to the New Jersey sportsbooks.
The total over/under line for the game fluctuated between 52 points to 54 points. Most bettors took the under, which was the winning bet, so the books took a loss on that front as well.
Eichner also stated that the tight prices on the two quarterbacks in the Super Bowl MVP betting helped balance the books.
“We actually needed a quarterback to win. The short odds were prohibitive for most casual bettors, so [Patrick] Mahomes, who closed near even money, was ideal,” he said.
There is a Karma Kommittee that convenes to look into irregular results for wagers, and it did just that for a prop bet on Patrick Mahomes to rush for over or under 30.5 yards. He was well past that total on the very last drive of the game, but the Chiefs had the result in hand and Mahomes had three straight kneel-downs that resulted in a loss of 15 yards to push the under. The Karma Kommittee met and decided to refund money to any bettor that wagered on Mahomes to go over 30.5 rushing yards.
The bettors that won big on prop bets, according to Eichner, were those that picked Mahomes for the first touchdown at +2200 odds. The public also won big on tails for the coin flip and the 49ers kicking over 1.5 field goals. One bettor at PointsBet had a four-leg parlay that paid out $74,200 when the Chiefs clinched the final leg.
Eichner added, “In terms of futures, San Francisco would’ve been a better result, but our overall futures book was a winner for the season.”