If you’ve landed on this page there’s a good chance you’re either looking for this year’s Superbowl point spread or you’re looking to learn how the spread works relative to betting. We’ve got you covered! (If by any chance your looking for previous Superbowl point spreads go here: Previous Years Superbowl Point Spreads)
A current year’s Superbowl “line” (point spead) doesn’t come out until both the NFC and AFC Championship games are played. These two games happen two weeks before “the big game.”
When it does come out, it should be handicapped a bit differently than the average game. Ya see, the “bookies” and folks who create “the spreads” know that this is the single largest betting day of the year. With that being said, it brings out a ton of people who are novices at wagering on sports (Weekend Warriors AKA: SQUARES). With that being said, it is OUR feeling that often times (not always though!) the spreads on Super Bowl games is “shaded” towards the favorite (and the OVER) a bit, often times giving the underdog some good betting value. However, that doesn’t mean bet every single underdog every year. That’s not what we’re saying.
Let’s use Super Bowl III as an example:
The lowly New York Jets were a +18 point underdog to the mighty Baltimore Colts. The game played and when fat lady sang (the game was over), the NYJ had won the game straight up 16-7 in what may be the biggest upset in NFL history.
They covered the spread by 27 points!
That’s probably not the best example to use. Let’s use Superbowl XLIII as an example. The Pittsburgh Steelers played the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers were a -7 point favorite. This essentially means that Pittsburgh is starting the game down 7 points (for betting purposes) and Arizona had a 7 point lead. Were the Steelers really a whole seven points better than the red hot Arizona Cardinals? The answer turned out to be “no” as Pittsburgh only won the game by 4 points which gave Arizona “the cover” (Arizona bettors won, Pittsburgh bettors lost).
In summary, the bookmakers set a line based on “public perception”. How could Arizona who has sucked for many moons hold a flame to one of America’s most beloved teams? The true line on this game should have been Pittsburgh -3 or maybe even -4, but not a whole touchdown.
The above is an example of the oddsmaker creating a point spread that sucked all the squares (novices) into betting on the Steelers. On the flip side, many sharps (wiseguys/astute gamblers) were on Arizona as they believed the Cardinals were red hot and had a chance to win the game straight up.
Anyhoo, when the spread for this year’s game comes out, we’ll list it at the top of this page. And for those of you who came here looking to learn about the point spread, let us re-route you to our page: How to Bet on the Superbowl.
Enjoy the BIG game everybody!
