The Super Bowl is the championship for the National Football League (NFL), which is America’s superior football league. The game pits the winner of two conferences, the National Football Conference (NFC) against the American Football Conference (AFC) in the finale. This is an annual event that started in 1967 and is usually played on the first Sunday in February.

The Super Bowl is the most gambled-on sporting event in the United States. The 2021 finale will take place at Raymond James Stadium from Tampa, Florida on Feb. 7, 2021.

Super Bowl Spreads

Through the first 54 Super Bowls, the NFC and AFC have gone 27-27 against one another. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl wins at six, while the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers both have five.

Favorites have gone 36-17 straight up and 29-20-2 against the spread in the Super Bowl. The largest upset came in Super Bowl III (1969) when the New York Jets beat the Baltimore Colts 16-7 as 18-point underdogs.

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in the 2020 finale and they covered as 1 ½-point favorites.

Super Bowl Lines

The point-spread rarely comes into play with the Super Bowl, meaning you just have to pick the winner of the game. There have only been six instances where the favorite won the game straight up but failed to cover the number. Those outcomes occurred in 2009, 2005, 2004, 1996, 1989 and 1976.

In the 2014-15 Super Bowl between New England and Seattle, the closing consensus line was pick 'em, which was the first in the NFL finale. The Patriots rallied for a 28-24 victory over the Seahawks.

Oddsmakers were on the money with their numbers in two Super Bowls, which produced pushes or ties. Those matchups took place in 1997 and 2000.

Super Bowl Black Sunday

The most infamous pro football finale for oddsmakers was Super Bowl XIII and a lesson learned for all individuals standing behind the betting counter.

The 13th installment saw the Steelers open as 4 ½-point favorites over the Cowboys and the number dropped to 3 ½-points with early action on the Cowboys.

Even though Dallas lost the game 35-31 to Pittsburgh, early bettors cashed with the 4 ½-points and Steelers backers won on the closing line. To this day, SBXIII is considered “Black Sunday” for the sportsbooks.

Super Bowl Over Under

The Super Bowl ‘over/under’ wager has often been called the total in the sports betting industry. An opening line is set based on the expected combined points scored from both teams in the game. Bettors can wager on the outcome and if it will be either higher or lower or put simply, over or under.

The ‘over/under’ has gone 27-26 in the first 54 Super Bowl matchups. No total was posted on Super Bowl I between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs.

In the 2019 Super Bowl, the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 and the combined 16 points was the lowest ‘over/under’ result in Super Bowl history. The three points by the Rams matched an all-time low in the big game, matching the Miami Dolphins from way back in Super Bowl VI.

The ‘over/under’ on that outcome closed at 56 points, which was the 11th Super Bowl to have a total close in the fifties.

The highest Super Bowl ‘over/under’ outcome occurred in Super Bowl XXIX when the San Francisco 49ers demolished the San Diego Chargers, 49-26.

Super Bowl Line History

The Super Bowl betting history covers the first 54 matchups of the NFL finale, focusing on the two teams, the betting lines, the final score and the sports betting result which lists the favorite-underdog outcome and the ‘over-under’ result.