Super Bowl 2014: Worst ever year for bettors
Bettors lost $19.7 million in Nevada alone, which accounts for only one percent of money wagered worldwide.
The sportsbooks in Las Vegas have finished as the winners on Super Bowl weekend in 22 of the last 24 years, but never have bettors lost more than during Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday. According to R.J. Bell of PreGame.com, the 43-8 victory for the Seattle Seahawks resulted in $19.7 million in net losses for bettors in the state of Nevada alone.
Super Bowl prop bets
• Gatorade bath for winning coach • Over/under on total points • Bets from halftime show • Favorite scores first touchdown • Manning throws first interception • Seahawks safety stuns Vegas • Temperature at kickoff • Coin toss bucks recent tradition • Knowshon Moreno not seen crying • National Anthem goes 1:53 • A History of prop bets Part of the reason for the inflated losses was simply the amount of money that was bet on the game, as $119.4 million was wagered in Nevada. That represents the first time that more than $100 million was placed on the game in Nevada and the result generally wasn’t strong for bettors.
The net losses for bettors were almost certainly much worse too, as Bell reports that Nevada accounted for only one percent of the total amount of money wagered on Super Bowl XLVIII worldwide.
According to OddsShark, the Denver Broncos entered the game as 2.5-point favorites with the over/under for the game set at 48. While the Seahawks and the over were the winning bets, OddsShark said on Sunday that 62 percent of the money was placed on the Broncos and 55 percent of bettors were taking the under.
Some of the results of more popular prop bets didn't help either, as a safety to start the game was a huge underdog, as was linebacker Malcolm Smith finishing as the Super Bowl MVP.
Despite the dominant victory on Sunday, Bell reports that the line wouldn’t be heavily in favor of the Seahawks if there was a rematch. Instead, the Seahawks are projected to be 3.5-point favorites in the hypothetical event that they had a rematch against the Broncos in a neutral location one week later.
The 35-point victory for the Seahawks was the third-largest margin of victory in the Super Bowl and largest since the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Buffalo Bills, 52-17, in Super Bowl XXVII.
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