We are going to explain how to bet on the Super Bowl.
Types of Super Bowl Bets
Annually, the Super Bowl draws more than 100 million viewers to its telecast — in the United States alone. With all these eyeballs, online sportsbooks roll out an insane amount of bets. Insane, we tell you. Let's quickly break down the most popular Super Bowl betting markets:
Moneyline
Sports betting doesn’t get much simpler than the moneyline bet. That’s because the moneyline is a wager on the straight-up winner of the big game. That’s it! One team will be the betting favorite, the other will be an underdog, and it’s on bettors to pick the Super Bowl winner.
Point Spread
Betting the spread is probably the most common way to go about Super Bowl wagering. Spread bets will give each team a handicap to play with. The favored team has a minimum amount of points they need to win by for that bet to hit. The opposite is true for the underdogs, who can “cover” their bet by losing by fewer points than they’re getting on the spread.
Let’s use a hypothetical example. Say the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos meet in next year’s Super Bowl ('Boys fans can dream, right?). Oddsmakers might make Dallas four-point favorites. That means for them to “cover the spread”, they need to win by five or more points. Meanwhile, the Broncos would cover if they lose by three or less OR outright win the game. As you can see, spread bets aren’t all that confusing.
Total Points (Over/Under)
Forget who’s winning the next Super Bowl or by how many points, point total bets don’t care about the winner or loser at all. This bet, also called the over/under, is instead concerned about the combined final score. Sportsbooks will set a number and it’s on bettors to choose whether more points will be scored (over) or less (under) than the set number.
Let’s use another example involving a hypothetical New York Giants and Tennessee Titans title game. If online sportsbooks set the over/under to 49 points, what happens if the final score ends up being 31-21? Well, the over hit since the combined point tally was 52 points, three more than the 49 over/under number.
Props
All right, Super Bowl props are, without a doubt, the most fun types of bets. Why? Because you’ll see special props that would never be offered on a regular NFL matchup. Spoiler alert: these props can get on the random side too. We can’t possibly call out all the prop bets, but here are a few you’ll only get with the Super Bowl.
One is the coin toss result. Yes, you can bet on whether tails or heads lands on the initial coin toss. It’s a 50-50 bet and bettors are drawn to it in droves. More information on the typical Super Bowl coin toss odds can be found here.
It gets better, there are also prop bets on the halftime show. In 2024, Usher gets the halftime spotlight, but it obviously changes every year. The best Super Bowl betting sites will set odds on things like what song Usher will perform first, who will make a surprise appearance on stage with him, the color of his outfit, and a whole lot more. You can learn more about the range of potential Super Bowl national anthem prop bets here.
Other fun and unique Super Bowl prop betting opportunities are plentiful each year. If you're new to Super Bowl betting and want a full guide on that process, check out this Super Bowl betting how-to.
The national anthem is another popular prop bet. The most common way to bet this is an over/under on the length of it being signed.
These are a small sample size of Super Bowl prop bets, but there’s obviously more. “Regular” ones like player props (e.g. who scores the game’s first touchdown) are also on the table.
Live Betting
Live betting, also called in play, is exactly what it sounds like: bets made in the middle of the game. Things like the spread, over/under, or moneyline can be bet pre-game or live. Sportsbooks will shift betting lines in real time and bettors can pick their spots whenever they’d like.
Futures
Futures bets are available year-round — not just when the Super Bowl matchup has been decided like the previous bets we covered. Super Bowl futures revolve around who wins the game and also the Super Bowl MVP trophy. These bets can be made preseason, regular season, before the conference championship, or pretty much whenever.
Parlays
Last but not least, we have the same game parlay. This is when you put multiple Super Bowl wagers into one bet slip. All those bets have to hit for the ticket to payout in full — even one miss and you’re cooked. You can add as many or as little legs into the bet slip, the choice is yours.
Understanding Super Bowl Odds
Super Bowl odds might come weird on first look, but here again, it’s simpler than it may seem. Odds, depending on what country you’re gambling from, are expressed in different formats — American odds, fractional, or decimal. Since this is the NFL, America’s top sport, we’ll use American-style odds in this example.
You might see Dallas as -170 moneyline favorites, while the Broncos are +125. This means you’d need to risk $170 to profit $100 if betting on the Cowboys. However, for the underdog, a $100 wager at +125 odds has a profit payout of $125.
Generally speaking, Super Bowl odds are in flux. The spread you get when the matchup is first revealed won’t necessarily be the same on game day two weeks later. Oddsmakers adjust lines based on other bettor activity and recent events (an injury, for example).
Super Bowl Betting Advice
Honestly, Super Bowl betting isn’t all that different than normal NFL games. All of the same NFL betting principles still apply. The top one is to do research. A lot of research. You really have to study the matchup between the two Super Bowl teams and try to spot out strengths and weaknesses that can be exploited in-game.
The only betting tip we have that’s specifically geared for the big game is this: don’t spread yourself too thin. As you’ve read, there are hundreds upon hundreds of Super Bowl bets available. That’s exciting, but can also be overwhelming if you try to bet on too many of them. Instead, hone in on high-confidence plays and then commit more money to them.
Super Bowl Betting History
The next Super Bowl is on February 11, 2024. For the first time ever, Las Vegas, Nevada will play Super Bowl hosts at its state-of-the-art Allegiant Stadium.
We won’t know who the last two teams standing in the AFC and NFC are until the regular season and the playoff games conclude. However, if recent history is any suggestion, we might see a familiar face. As you can see, a few teams have repeatedly made the Super Bowl in the last five years. Here are recent results:
- Super Bowl 57: Kansas City defeated Philadelphia Eagles 38-35
- Super Bowl 56: Los Angeles Rams defeated Cincinnati Bengals 23-20
- Super Bowl 55: Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated KC Chiefs 31-9
- Super Bowl 54: Kansas City Chiefs defeated San Francisco 49ers 31-20
- Super Bowl 53: New England Patriots defeated LA Rams 13-3
While we’re on the topic of history, underdogs have overperformed as of late. In the past 16 Super Bowls, underdogs have gone 9-7 on the moneyline and are a staggering 11-5 against the spread. At this point, this feels more like a trend than a statistical anomaly. Do with this information as you please when Super Bowl betting next time.
How To Bet Legally On The Super Bowl?
Legal sports betting is largely a thing now. At the United States federal level, it’s been legalized. Then at the state level, the majority of the 50 states have passed regulations to allow online betting. So you betcha Super Bowl betting is (mostly) legal.
If you live in a state or country that’s barred sports betting, you can always resort to offshore online sportsbooks. These operate out of foreign countries — not where you reside — and skirt around the rules that way. Speaking of which, we have our recommendations for our favorite online sportsbooks below.
How Can I Bet On The Super Bowl?
If you’ve read everything in this article, you should know how to gamble on Super Bowl by now — minus one thing: how to place a bet on the Super Bowl, as in where to do so. Welp, here’s a list of the Super Bowl betting sites that rated highest in our newest sportsbook review:
These are all offshore books, but honestly, they rival the regulated platforms — BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, and FanDuel. More often than not, you’ll find even more bonus bets, boosts, and promo code at offshore oddsmakers than at regulated bookies. That means you could bet on the Super Bowl for free if you know what you’re doing.
That’s betting on the Super Bowl in a nutshell. If you have any doubts on how to bet on the Super Bowl online, be sure to read our FAQs.
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