This Sunday, February 6, Texas hosts Super Bowl 45. The NFL’s one day of glory may not quite equal World Cup numbers in the long run, but it still remains the biggest stand-alone championship in the global sports media.
With days to go before the event, plenty of bets are still being placed. And there’s still plenty of time for betting affiliates to market Super Bowl sportsbetting.
Half of American Adults Bet
Make no mistake: For betting affiliates, this is a once-a-year opportunity. “Half of American adults bet on the Super Bowl, ranging from $1 squares to heftier wagers with online sportsbooks, estimates RJ Bell, a Las Vegas-based sports betting expert and the founder and CEO of Pregame.com,” writes Kate Hairopoulos at the Dallas Morning News.
Some of the industry’s leading sportsbooks (and CAP Listed Programs), Bodog and Intertops, accept U.S. gamblers.
Bodog in particular is one of the most closely-watched sportsbooks on the Internet; when mainstream media talk about gambling odds, 9 times out fo 10, they’re quoting Bodog. That’s automatic publicity and free marketing for betting affiliates.
Live Odds
Here’s a quick rundown of the odds: Intertops has the Packers (-145) beating the Steelers (+125); Titan Bet has the odds at 1.65 for the Packers to win and 2.26 for a Steelers win.
Bodog’s numbers aren’t much different: “We opened the betting on Monday with the Packers favored by a field goal and haven’t moved off that line since then,” said Bodog Sportsbook manager Richard Gardner. “A number of sports books opened at Packers (-2.5) and have since had to adjust to -3, while some are still at -2.5.”
All these odds could change in the coming days before the game actually begins, though Gardner notes that “there’s very little chance we’ll move off our line and will instead tinker with the money line in order to encourage betting one way or the other.”
Prop Bets Galore
Almost as big as betting on the game itself are Super Bowl prop bets; Intertops is looking at First Scoring Play, First Touchdown Scorer, Team to Score First, First Turnover, Highest Scoring Half and Quarter, Longest Punt, and more, details here.
Bodog gets even more creative, offering bets on whether Ben Roethlisberger will score a rushing TD, how long it’ll take Christina Aguilera to sing the National Anthem, how the half-time show will go down, even on the best Super Bowl commercials. “The list is almost never ending, and many of these props have very specific outcomes,” notes SportsBookGurus.com.
Check out ESPN’s interesting look at Super Bowl prop bets (How many times will we hear Brett Favre’s name during the broadcast? How long will Christina Aguilera hold those National Anthem high notes?) here.
Final Thoughts
And, for the record, here’s an interesting article on how the NFL, resistant to online gambling, actually thrives on gambling.