The Super Bowl is one of the most popular sporting events of the year and is a favourite of bettors all over the world. If you’re new to betting, placing your first wager on this legendary football matchup is an excellent introduction to the world of sports betting. Let’s take a look at some of the different kinds of bets available for the Super Bowl.
Kansas City Chiefs vs. San Francisco 49ers: 2024 Super Bowl Betting
Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs had to play the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, and the Chiefs were victorious, claiming a 17-10 win in order to book their ticket to their fourth Bowl appearance in five years.
The San Francisco 49ers came back from a big first half deficit to beat the Detroit Lions 34-31 for the NFC title and a spot in the Super Bowl.
How to Bet on the 2024 Super Bowl
The betting odds above show you the most basic kind of wager you can make in the game – a bet on who will win, which is also known as a moneyline bet. Using the 2023 Super Bowl as our example, we can see that the 49ers are favoured to win (-115) and the Chiefs are the underdogs (-105). You can always tell which team is the favourite as their number is shown with a minus sign (-) and underdogs are shown with the plus sign (+).
Below, we’ll help you understand more about how betting odds work and we’ll explain the different betting options available to you.
Super Bowl Moneyline Betting
The simplest of bets, and the kind of bet we used as our example above, the moneyline bet is a wager on who you think is going to win the game. Let’s take a look at those numbers again.
The Chiefs, who are the underdogs, are priced at +105. That means if you place a $100 bet on them, and they win, you’ll earn $105. If you bet on the favourite – in this case, the 49ers – then you’d have to bet $115 to win $100. It’s always riskier to bet on the underdog, but the payoff can be much higher if they pull off the upset.
Click here for more on moneyline betting.
Let’s take a look at a previous Super Bowl matchup for more examples of how Super Bowl betting works.
Super Bowl Point Spread Betting
There are tons of options when it comes to betting on the biggest football game of the year, and one of the most appealing types of wagers to bettors is the bet on the point spread. Betting on the point spread isn’t about deciding who’s most likely to win the game, it’s about how many points the game will be won, or lost, by.
In our example, the Chiefs were favoured by 3 points over the Buccaneers. So, a bet on Kansas City meant that they’d have to win by 4 points or more in order to cover the spread and give you a winning bet. If your bet is on the Bucs, you win if they win by any margin or if they lose by two points or less. A 3-point win would result in a push. A push is a tie between the book and the bettor, and usually results in your bet amount being refunded.
Depending on the matchup, especially during the regular season, it’s possible to see spreads go higher than 10 points if the two teams are unevenly matched. The Super Bowl is the meeting of the best of the AFC and the NFC, so the point spread is usually smaller. To learn more, check out our complete guide to point spread betting.
Super Bowl Over/Under Betting
Also called a Totals bet, the Over/Under is a bet on whether the game’s final score will be Over or Under the number given. In the Chiefs vs. Buccaneers game, the total is listed as 56.5, so you’ll be betting on whether the final combined points for the two teams will be Over or Under that number. For a game that features two of the most elite quarterbacks in the league in a potential shootout, expect more bettors to bet the Over in this example.
The number listed for the total is usually accompanied by a corresponding price for that bet – similar to what we saw above with the moneyline. Above, the number listed beside the Over is -115 and the number listed beside the Under is -105, meaning you’d wager $115 for the chance to win an additional $100 if you bet the Over or wager $100 for the chance to win $105 if you bet the Under.
Super Bowl Prop Betting
A prop bet is a proposition bet, and for the Super Bowl, oddsmakers go all out with the kinds of props they’ll offer bettors. These kinds of bets can range from betting on how many passing yards a quarterback will get during the game, to what color the Gatorade that’s tossed on the winning team’s head coach will be.
In our example above, this prop bet is an Over/Under bet on the total number of passing yards each of the quarterbacks will get. Patrick Mahomes was -130 to throw for over 329.5 yards in the game, while Tom Brady was -120 to throw for over 300.5 yards. This is an example of a player prop, of which there are plenty to choose from when you bet on the Super Bowl. Other player props might include bets on which quarterback throws the first touchdown, which player is the first to rush for a touchdown, and who will be the Super Bowl MVP.
You really can bet on just about anything when it comes to the Super Bowl. In the examples above, you can see that not only can you bet on who will win the coin toss, you can bet on which team will win the coin toss and whether or not that team also wins the game.
The grand tradition of dumping a giant barrel of Gatorade on the winning coach has also found its way into prop betting, and every year you can bet on what color Gatorade the team will shower their head coach with.
Super Bowl Live Betting
Live betting is gaining popularity as bettors learn how exciting it can be! Live betting brings an entirely new, immersive way to get in on the game, as you can bet on things like the very next play, as the game is happening. For example, if you think Travis Kelce will be the next player to catch a touchdown pass, you can place that bet during the game. Think Tom Brady will get picked off on his next pass? Place a live bet on it.
Certain odds, like the ones on who will win Super Bowl MVP will change throughout the game, so if you have a good feeling about a certain player stepping up, you can get in early, during the game, on his MVP odds.
