Bengals Super Bowl Win Would Be Net Win for Most Sportsbooks, Despite Long Odds

Bengals Super Bowl Win Would Be Net Win for Most Sportsbooks, Despite Long Odds article feature image
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Jamie Squire/Getty Images. Pictured: Joe Burrow.

They were as long as 200/1 to win the Super Bowl, but sportsbooks aren't exactly sweating the possibility of the Cincinnati Bengals winning it all?

Why? Because not enough people thought they had a chance.

"We opened the Bengals at 100-1 to win the Super Bowl and got as high as 200-1," said the Superbook's Jay Kornegay.

But Kornegay says the book only has 17 total tickets at 200-1, with the biggest bet being two tickets at $200.

FanDuel spokesman Kevin Hennessy said the book was most worried about the Bills and the Packers, and the exposure to the Bills was pushed even higher when New York came online in the first week of January.

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BetMGM's vice president of trading Jason Scott said that his sportsbook was a net winner on the Super Bowl no matter what, given the exposure on four teams left, but that the Chiefs being eliminated was the best result.

Caesars seemed to have taken the biggest bet on the Bengals to win the Super Bowl. On October 28, when the Bengals were just 5-2, a bettor in Michigan bet $13,000 that Cincinnati would win the AFC title. That 16/1 bet cashed to the tune of $208,000 on Sunday. He also placed a $13,440 bet on the Bengals to win the Super Bowl. That 35/1 shot would pay $470,400.

As of Sunday night, it is not known how that bet stands among the other liabilities that have now been eliminated.

About the Author
Darren is a Senior Executive Producer at The Action Network, covering all angles of the sports betting world. He spent two stints at ESPN, from 2000-06 and 2012-18, he regularly wrote for ESPN.com and contributed to ESPN shows, including SportsCenter and Outside The Lines. He also served as a business correspondent for ABC News, where he made appearances on the network’s flagship shows, including “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight” and “Nightline.” While at CNBC from 2006-2012, Rovell anchored five primetime documentaries, including “Swoosh! Inside Nike,” which was nominated for an Emmy. Rovell also contributed to NBC News, where he earned an Emmy as a correspondent for the network’s Presidential Election coverage.

Follow Darren Rovell @darrenrovell on Twitter/X.

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