Welcome to Super Bowl XLVII. It is a game and event that has grown from a half empty stadium with ticket prices from $8 to $12 in 1967, to an American tradition that brings out big advertising dollars and serious consideration in congress to make the day after Super Sunday a national holiday.
They just as soon might give workers Monday off given the lack of productivity generated on that day. There are more parties today than any other day on the calendar and with the game starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone, those events don’t allow attendees to get home in many cases until after midnight.
Those who attend a Super Bowl in recent years can find the game somewhat anticlimactic to all the hoopla that precedes the teams taking the field. The league provides activities for both the young and old all week and press row is filled with athletes making the rounds while representing some advertisers' pitch.
How big is the Super Bowl?
What if I was to tell you that there is more money wagered on a Major League Baseball preseason game than the Super Bowl. Pretty ridiculous statement for those in the know. But to consider more money is wagered on a preseason NFL game than baseball’s World Series, which is true, gives a solid reason why the NFL is now in bed with the gambling world.
Years of hypocrisy while the league preached the evils of gambling has been replaced by advertising agreements with top sports book outlets. Some athletes are actually looking to add gaming profits the league generates into their player contracts.
When I was in the Oakland Raiders front office during the 1970’s, any discussion around the team headquarters about point spreads and gambling were highly scrutinized. Two top stars in the league, Paul Hornung and Alex Karras, were suspended for the 1963 season after it was revealed they had made bets on their own teams. Upon his return to gridiron to open the 1964 season, Karras served as a Detroit Lions captain and before the game the referee asked him to call the coin toss to determine the first possession.
“I’m sorry,” Karras deadpanned to the official, “I’m not allowed to gamble.”
Players are still not allowed to gamble, which I believe is paramount to best protect the integrity of the game, but it is still a fine line the NFL walks in taking advertising dollars and promoting DraftKings and others while still preaching the evils of the activity.
Amidst all this action off the field, we still have a game to play and it pits arguably the best two teams in football today when the Philadelphia Eagles meet the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are making their third Super Bowl appearance in four years and are in search of their third Super Bowl win. They played in two of the first four Super Bowls, losing to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl I and downing the Minnesota Vikings three years later. They won their second Super Bowl trophy to complete the 2019 season with a victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
The Eagles are making their third franchise trip to the Super Bowl. They lost to the Oakland Raiders to complete the 1980 season and beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
The Eagles are slight favorites today with a point spread that opened with Philadelphia favored by 1½ points on a line that went as high as 2½ points on the first day the public had a shot to wager on the game. For most of the past two weeks the line has been stuck at 1½ points even while a majority of the point spread wagers were coming in on the Eagles.
My early research on this game found a surprising number of bets on the Eagles even while the line stopped going up and finally yesterday had the majority of books cut the spread to Philadelphia by one point. Turns out, my subsequent research revealed a most interesting wagering fact about this game, while the point spread wagers have been clearly on the Eagles side, a huge amount of the action on this game for the Kansas City backers can be found on the money line. Backers of Mahomes and company are more interested in getting an extra payoff on the vig than concern they will need the small spread to decide their team’s fate.
We’ve got a clear side in this contest, and we have revealed why our leaning is to the Eagles in past posted Headline Plays. What I will add today, is that I not only think the Eagles are the right side in the game but my indicators also point to a high scoring contest. One handicapper that I have a lot of respect for, has wagered not only on the over at 51 points, but has taken extra payoff possibilities while backing the over all the way up to 60 points.
So, enjoy the day, have some chicken wings, and let’s end the season on a winning note.