When the favorite and the over come through in Super Bowl odds, the sportsbooks lose money. How often does that happen in Super Bowl history? Super Bowl odds don’t always have the favorite covering the spread. In fact, the favorite has not done as well in recent seasons in Super Bowl betting. The Pittsburgh Steelers won last year’s Super Bowl but the Arizona Cardinals got the money for those that wagered on Super Bowl odds.
The game did go over the total though. Usually when you look at Super Bowl you will see a high total because the sportsbook wants to force some people to consider taking the under. They don’t want a high scoring game so at least they will move that total higher to make people pay the price for betting the over. They do the same thing with the favorite even though in recent seasons the underdogs have held their own.
The favorites in Super Bowl still have a very slight edge in the all-time history of the game, but just barely. The last two years the underdog has covered in Super Bowl. The NFC has a very slight 22-21 edge in the previous 43 Super Bowls and they also have the edge against the Super Bowl betting odds. In fact, they are 23-17-3 against the Super Bowl betting odds in the previous 43 games.
Super Bowl history shows that the biggest win in the game was in 1990 when San Francisco routed Denver 55-10. That was the largest win by an NFC team. The largest win by an AFC team was in Super Bowl XXXV when Baltimore beat the New York Giants 34-7.
It is important to remember about the Super Bowl that the winner of the game usually covers the spread. Now having said that, last year the Steelers won but Arizona covered the spread so it doesn’t always work. Usually taking the money line is a good way to go if you like the underdog in the Super Bowl but as last year proved, nothing works all the time. Still, only nine times in Super Bowl history has the favorite won the game but not covered the spread.
Usually in the Super Bowl the over is the way to bet the total. Since 1982, when totals were really first tracked, the over is 16-11.