It gets more hype than any event in North American sports. No, I'm not talking about the annual clash of the titans between Alabama and LSU for SEC West bragging rights. Come Sunday, February 3rd all the build-up, media hype, and anticipation reaches a crescendo when Baltimore and San Francisco compete for the Lombardi trophy. As the Superbowl climbs higher on the de facto national holiday list, so do the 10 figure estimates for dollars wagered legally throughout Nevada and illegally at corner books. While I can't give you the perfect formula for winning the coin toss bet or finding that lucrative first touchdown prop winner, I can share the history as it pertains to gambling and everything Las Vegas surrounding the game.
Fortunately we've seen highly competitive games each of the last few years with 6 of the last 9 Superbowls decided by 6 points or less. That wasn't always the case with the league going through a prolonged stretch where games became blowouts leaving oddsmakers to devote time to the prop market (coming in Monday's column). Of course there's one natural question that people inevitably ask:
How good are oddsmakers at their job you ask?
46 Superbowls: 23 Overs, 23 unders
Favorites are 26-18-2 overall but underdogs are on an 8-2 against the spread run the last 10 years
12 of the underdogs that covered won the game outright including 5 as double digit underdogs; most recently the 2008 New York Giants
Superbowls being played in a stadium with a dome or retractable roof are 12-5 to the Under.
The lowest posted total ever on the Superbowl was 33 and it was used 3 straight years: VII to IX
Nevada state record for money wagered on the game was $94 million back in 2006. Last year narrowly missed breaking the record falling just short at $93.9M
Since 1991, the best year for the house was 2005 when casinos made $15.4M, holding .17 cents out of every dollar wagered.
In the last 21 years, Nevada has reported a loss on the Superbowl only twice: 1995 and 2008.
Your complete pointspread history for every Superbowl
| Superbowl | SCORE | Line (Total) | ATS Result |
| XLVI | N.Y. Giants 21 New England 17 | New England -2.5 (53) | Underdog-Under |
| XLV | Green Bay 31 Pittsburgh 25 | Green Bay -3 (45) | Favorite-Over |
| XLIV | New Orleans 31 Indianapolis 17 | Indianapolis -5 (57) | Underdog-Under |
| XLIII | Pittsburgh 27 Arizona 23 | Pittsburgh -7 (46) | Underdog-Over |
| XLII | N.Y. Giants 17 New England 14 | New England -12 (55) | Underdog-Under |
| XLI | Indianapolis 29 Chicago 17 | Indianapolis -7 (47) | Favorite-Under |
| XL | Pittsburgh 21 Seattle 10 | Pittsburgh -4 (47) | Favorite-Under |
| XXIX | New England 24 Philadelphia 21 | New England -7 (46.5) | Underdog-Under |
| XXXVIII | New England 32 Carolina 29 | New England -7 (37.5) | Underdog-Over |
| XXXVII | Tampa Bay 48 Oakland 21 | Oakland -4 (44) | Underdog-Over |
| XXXVI | New England 20 St. Louis 17 | St. Louis -14 (53) | Underdog-Under |
| XXXV | Baltimore 34 N.Y. Giants 7 | Baltimore -3 (33) | Favorite-Over |
| XXXIV | St. Louis 23 Tennessee 16 | St. Louis -7 (45) | Push-Under |
| XXXIII | Denver 34 Atlanta 19 | Denver -7.5 (52.5) | Favorite-Over |
| XXXII | Denver 31 Green Bay 24 | Green Bay -11 (49) | Underdog-Over |
| XXXI | Green Bay 35 New England 21 | Green Bay -14 (49) | Push-Over |
| XXX | Dallas 27 Pittsburgh 17 | Dallas -13.5 (51) | Underdog-Under |
| XXIX | San Francisco 49 San Diego 26 | San Francisco -18.5 | Favorite-Over |
| XXVIII | Dallas 30 Buffalo 13 | Dallas -10.5 (50.5) | Favorite-Under |
| XXVII | Dallas 52 Buffalo 17 | Dallas -6.5 (44.5) | Favorite-Over |
| XXVI | Washington 37 Buffalo 24 | Washington -7 (49) | Favorite-Over |
| XXV | N.Y. Giants 20 Buffalo 19 | Buffalo -7 (40.5) | Underdog-Under |
| XXIV | San Francisco 55 Denver 10 | San Francisco -12 (48) | Favorite-Over |
| XXIII | San Francisco 20 Cincinnati 16 | San Francisco -7 (48) | Underdog-Under |
| XXII | Washington 42 Denver 10 | Denver -3 (47) | Underdog-Over |
| XXI | N.Y. Giants 39 Denver 20 | N.Y. Giants -9.5 (40) | Favorite-Over |
| XX | Chicago 46 New England 10 | Chicago -10 (37.5) | Favorite-Over |
| XIX | San Francisco 38 Miami 16 | San Francisco -3.5 | Favorite-Over |
| XVIII | L.A. 38 Washington 9 | Washington -3 (48) | Favorite-Under |
| XVII | Washington 27 Miami 17 | Miami -3 (36.5) | Underdog-Over |
| XVI | San Francisco 26 Cincinnati 21 | San Francisco -1 (48) | Favorite-Under |
| XV | Oakland 27 Philadelphia 10 | Philadelphia -3 (37.5) | Underdog-Under |
| XIV | Pittsburgh 31 L.A. Rams 19 | Pittsburgh -10.5 (36) | Favorite-Over |
| XIII | Pittsburgh 35 Dallas 31 | Pittsburgh -3.5 (37) | Favortie-Over |
| XII | Dallas 27 Denver 10 | Dallas -6 (39) | Favorite-Under |
| XI | Oakland 34 Minnesota 14 | Oakland -4 (38) | Favorite-Over |
| X | Pittsburgh 21 Dallas 17 | Pittsburgh -7 (36) | Underdog-Over |
| IX | Pittsburgh 16 Minnesota 6 | Pittsburgh -3 (33) | Favorite-Under |
| VIII | Miami 24 Minnesota 7 | Miami -6.5 (33) | Favorite-Under |
| VII | Miami 14 Washington 7 | Miami -1 (33) | Favorite-Under |
| VI | Dallas 24 Miami 3 | Dallas -6 (34) | Favorite-Under |
| V | Baltimore 16 Dallas 13 | Baltimore -2.5 (36) | Favorite-Under |
| IV | Kansas City 23 Minnesota 7 | Minnesota -12 (39) | Underdog-Under |
| III | N.Y. Jets 16 Indianapolis 7 | Indianapolis -18 (40) | Underdog-Under |
| II | Green Bay 33 Oakland 14 | Green Bay -13.5 (43) | Favorite-Over |
| I | Green Bay 35 Kansas City 10 | Green Bay -14 (N/A) | Favorite |
(pointspread history courtesy of Vegas Insider).
