Amount Bet on the Super Bowl

Written by Jack Jones

The New York Giants pulled off one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history just a few days ago, when they defeated the New England Patriots in the most watched Super Bowl ever. While many would believe that it would also have been the highest bet on game in Super Bowl history, that wasn’t the case at all. It was actually only the third highest with a total of $92,055,833. Super Bowl XL has the highest mark at $94,534,372, when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks 21 – 10. In second is last years Super Bowl when $93,067,358 was placed on the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears. Over the last 17 years the amount of money being bet has jumped over $50,000,000. Fans are now more than ever willing to make some extra money by placing bets on big games such as the Super Bowl. We don’t see a decrease in the future; in a matter of a few years we could easily topple the $100 million mark.

While big time gamblers look to win big on the game, many fans place normal bets to try and keep the game exciting if their team is or isn’t playing. Normally sportsbooks love to see action on the game as the majority of the time they will come out on top. So why are sportsbooks calling this one of the worst Super Bowls ever? This year $2,573,103 was lost and paid out to fans who smelled the upset coming. The sportsbooks winning percentage was a terrible -2.8%. The only other Super Bowl in the negative over the last 17 years was back when San Francisco beat San Diego 49 – 26 in Super Bowl XXIX. That game produced only a -0.6% loss, totaling $396,674, which is nothing compared to the over $2.5 million lost this year. While this might cause a mild panic, the sportsbooks are still up well over $100,000,000 since 1991. The highest ever winning percentage game back in Super Bowl XXXIX when the Patriots defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 24 – 21, with a winning percentage of 16.3% making the sportsbooks $15,430,138. So while it has lost twice since 1991 it has topped the $10,000,000 mark four times.

There are a few things that go into the sportsbooks winning big or not. First off, this year for example a lot of betters were making bets on the 11-14pt underdog Giants to cover the spread, which they obviously did winning outright 17 -14. Where sportsbooks also took a big hit was those fans who made bets on the Giants to win outright where the lines were anywhere around the +325 – +405. In the game where the sportsbooks made out big was win many fans had picked New England to cover the spread of -4, but failed to do so winning by only 3. While the Giants case has been very rare over the years, it may cause fans to start leaning more towards the underdogs in upcoming Super Bowls, but be careful cause you never know what will happen.

Here is a list showing the past 17 Super Bowls, the amount of total money bet on each game, the amount sportsbooks won or loss along with the percentage, and the final score. * indicate a loss for that year.

YR BETS W/L W% FINAL SCORE

2008 $92,055,833 $ 2,573,103* -2.8 New York Giants 17,

New England 14

2007 $93,067,358 $ 12,930,175 13.9 Indianapolis 29, Chicago 17

2006 $94,534,372 $ 8,828,431 9.3 Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 10

2005 $90,759,236 $ 15,430,138 17.0 New England 24, Philadelphia 21

2004 $81,242,191 $ 12,440,698 15.3 New England 32, Carolina 29

2003 $71,693,032 $ 5,264,963 7.3 Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 21

2002 $71,513,304 $ 2,331,607 3.3 New England 20, St. Louis 17

2001 $67,661,425 $ 11,002,636 16.3 Baltimore 34, New York Giants 7

2000 $71,046,751 $ 4,237,978 6.0 St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16

1999 $75,986,520 $ 2,906,601 3.8 Denver 34, Atlanta 19

1998 $77,253,246 $ 472,033 0.6 Denver 31, Green Bay 24

1997 $70,853,211 $ 2,265,701 3.2 Green Bay 35, New England 21

1996 $70,907,801 $ 7,126,145 10.1 Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17

1995 $69,591,818 $ 396,674* -0.6 San Francisco 49, San Diego 26

1994 $54,483,221 $ 7,481,541 13.7 Dallas 30, Buffalo 13

1993 $56,811,405 $ 7,174,869 12.6 Dallas 52, Buffalo 17

1992 $50,334,277 $ 301,280 0.6 Washington 37, Buffalo 24

1991 $40,080,409 $ 3,512,241 8.8 New York Giants 20, Buffalo 19

Comments

Got something to say?