Posted on: January 29, 2024, 10:17h.
Last updated on: January 29, 2024, 10:17h.
Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, Feb. 11, from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, will be a rematch of Super Bowl LIV between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers. The early betting public thinks the big game redo will come with a similar outcome — a Chiefs championship.
The Chiefs won the 2019 NFL title (played on Feb. 2, 2020) against the Niners 31-20. But San Fran at the time didn’t have a budding star under-center in Brock Purdy.
In just his second year, Purdy led San Francisco to a 12-5 record. He’s led the 49ers to two thrilling victories in the postseason — a 24-21 win over the Green Bay Packers and a 34-31 win over the Detroit Lions yesterday.
His postseason heroics, highlighted on Sunday against the Lions by overcoming a 17-point deficit comeback in the second half, have oddsmakers thinking the 49ers are the favorites for Sunday in two weeks.
Their AFC opponent, however, is the league’s current dynasty following the New England Patriots. Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid have reached the Super Bowl in four of the previous five big games.
The Chiefs are the defending champs, but some midseason questionable play subdued a bit of enthusiasm for the preseason favorites. Those concerns have largely been squashed in recent weeks.
The Chiefs’ defense managed to stop Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens to allow Kansas City to cruise to a 17-10 victory to secure a spot in Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs D has stopped the most high-powered offenses in the AFC this postseason with victories against the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and Ravens.
Early Money on Chiefs
Caesars Sportsbook and several other sportsbooks opened Super Bowl LVIII with San Francisco favored by two points. Adam Pullen, Caesars Sportsbook’s assistant director of trading, told Casino.org that before the conference championships, the book was ready to make the 49ers a field goal favorite against the Chiefs. The line was trimmed after another impressive performance by Mahomes and the Chiefs defense.
Going into the week we set lookahead lines that had the 49ers as a 3-point favorite against the Chiefs. Judging by what transpired today, we shortened the 49ers a bit given their recent defensive struggles, and the Chiefs looking dominant in Baltimore shutting down the Ravens,” Pullen explained. “At the end of the day, it comes down to the eye test. In a reverse scenario, maybe we are back to -3 with the 49ers.”
The early action has been on the Chiefs, which prompted the book to further trim a point off San Francisco’s front-runner status. The over/under is at 47.5 points after opening at 48.
As for MVP, Mahomes is the favorite at +130. Purdy is at +230, 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey is at +480, and Chiefs TE Travis Kelce is at +2000.
No Swift Bets
Many social media users questioned how many times CBS will show Taylor Swift during the Super Bowl LVIII broadcast. Swift’s relationship with Kelce has demanded much media attention — to the disdain of many diehard NFL fans.
Swift is scheduled to perform a concert in Japan the night before the Super Bowl. But there is seemingly enough time for the pop superstar to make it to Las Vegas in time for the big game.
The incessant coverage of Swift and Kelce’s relationship will reach a boiling point in less than two weeks in Las Vegas. But oddsmakers — at least the legal operators — won’t be taking action on how many times CBS will cut to Swift in her box or whether Kelce will propose on the field should the Chiefs win.
State gaming regulators have historically shunned allowing sportsbooks to take such entertainment-oriented prop bets. The concern is that the outcome could be easily influenced or manipulated.
However, some states do allow other game props like whether the coin flip will be heads or tails. Regulators in Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, DC, West Virginia, and Wyoming for Super Bowl LVII also allowed bettors to predict what color Gatorade would be dumped on the winning coach.
