The Atlanta Falcons are going to Super Bowl 51 and the Cleveland Browns will pick first in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Before the season began, more people bet on the Browns to win Super Bowl 51 than the Falcons, according to ESPN. That’s incredibly awkward for gamblers, but terrific for Las Vegas.
As ESPN writes, before the season began, it was tough to find someone to bet on Atlanta and as a result, Las Vegas sportsbooks “lengthened” the Falcons’ Super Bowl odds from 40-1 all the way to 100-1 to try and get people to place bets on them.
Instead, people just kept betting on Cleveland and every team but Atlanta.
On September 8th, 2016 when the NFL season began with the Denver Broncos beating the Carolina Panthers 21-20, Sportsbook Operator CG Technology had taken in more bets on the Browns winning the Super Bowl than the Falcons. Once again, Cleveland will pick first in the upcoming draft, while Atlanta advanced to the Super Bowl with their win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
“We took a $5,000 bet at 40-1 on the Falcons to win the Super Bowl,” CG Technology vice president Jason Simbal told ESPN. The ticket would net $200,000. “And we still win almost a million on the Falcons. That’s how few people bet them.”
To say the sportsbooks caught a break would be an understatement.
Due to their high-flying offense, the Falcons opened as only three point underdogs against the New England Patriots at the start of Super Bowl betting.
Regardless of the spread, an Atlanta win would be huge for Vegas after a couple of rough weeks, especially after the preseason betting on the Falcons was so low. William Hill told ESPN they have 184 tickets on the Falcons at odds at 100-1 or higher to win the Super Bowl while MGM has 31 on the Falcons at 75-1. That’s not a lot of bets, even though the long odds would give those bettors a hefty payout.
“Some people have some pretty nice tickets on them,” MGM VP of Race and Sports Jay Rood said. “But we still look great to them.”
Overall, sportsbooks are in a funny situation as the NFL season comes to its conclusion. The Falcons were picked to win the Super Bowl less than the league-worst Browns, and are going up against the Super Bowl favorites for the entire season in the Patriots. At William Hill back in September, more money was on New England to win it all than any other team, and that was despite Tom Brady’s suspension.
Due to so many people betting on the Patriots, New England’s odds of winning were low. As a result, no matter who wins the Super Bowl, Las Vegas will win at the bank.
[ESPN]
