Bill Vinovich is one of the more seasoned referees in all of football, and bettors will want to get familiar with his trends ahead of his work this weekend.
Vinovich got the call to do the AFC Championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals. It is the seventh time in eight seasons that the California native has been awarded either a conference championship or a Super Bowl. He's the first one to accomplish that feat since 1996.
This will be Vinovich's sixth conference championship game. He is in his 13th season as an NFL referee and 16th as an official. Generally, Vinovich is considered one of the best in the game.
Let's get into some numbers and what to expect when Vinovich calls a game.
Referee Bill Vinovich Betting Trends
According to Bet Labs, the under is hitting at almost a 60% clip in games he referees in his career with a 78-54 record. The total in this game is set at 54.5 (real-time odds here).
The away team tends to have an advantage against the spread when he calls games. Historically, the visiting team is 72-58 ATS. Road teams went 9-7 straight-up under his watch in 2021.
The Bengals went 1-2 in games Vinovich officiated this season. The lone win came against the Steelers, 44-10, in Week 12. One of those losses included Week 18 against the Browns in which the Bengals did not play their starters.
The Bengals were 2-1 ATS under Vinovich's in those games. The loss came in a 25-22 loss to the Packers in which the Bengals were 2-point underdogs.
Vinovich only had two Chiefs games this season. Kansas City went 2-0 in those games and 1-1 against the spread.
But Vinovich was at the helm during last season's AFC Championship when the Chiefs beat the Bills 38-24. He also refereed the Chiefs' Super Bowl win over the 49ers.
The rest of the crew for the AFC Championship:
Umpire – Fred Bryan
Down Judge – Ed Camp
Line Judge – Jeff Seeman
Field Judge – Mearl Robinson
Side Judge – Jonah Monroe
Back Judge – Greg Meyer
Replay Official – Mark Butterworth
Replay Assistant – Larry Hanson
The alternate referee is Shawn Hochuli.
