Bill Vinovich will be the referee officiating Super Bowl 54 between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers (6:30 p.m. ET, FOX). The zebras with the whistles are expected to be impartial, but they do have tendencies that bettors can exploit.
Using the Bet Labs database, we highlight interesting trends for Vinovich.
Plus, we look at why Chiefs and 49ers fans may not be excited to see Vinovich in the white hat.
As always, it would be unwise to place a wager based solely on the past results of the referee officiating the game. This is just one more piece of information to make you a more informed gambler.
Super Bowl 54 Ref Trends: Bill Vinovich Betting Results
- Favorites: 45-54-3 (45.5%, -10.55 units)
- Home Teams: 43-55-3 (43.9%, -14.06 units)
- Overs: 43-58-1 (42.6%, -16.76 units)
- Chiefs: 4-3 ATS
- 49ers: 4-1 ATS
In games that Vinovich has overseen, the under is 58-43-1 (57%) including 31-18 (63%) in the past three seasons.
According to Pro Football Reference, there has been 17.8% fewer penalty yards compared to the average official when Vinovich has been in charge the past three seasons. Fewer penalty yards likely leads to fewer first downs and thus less scoring.
Vinovich is famous for overseeing the officiating crew that did not call pass interference on the infamous "No Call" during the Saints-Rams NFC Championship last year.
If Vinovich can’t get this call right, I can’t wait to see what horrors await in the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl 54 Prop Bets
It’s the Super Bowl, so you can bet on anything, including penalties. Here are a few of the props available for wagering (FanDuel):
- Total accepted penalties: Over/under 12.5
- Combined penalty yards: Over/under 109.5
- More penalty yards: SF +100, KC -125
- First team to be penalized for pass interference: SF -115, KC -115
- First team to be penalized for holding: SF +100, KC -125
Of these props, the one that caught my eye is total accepted penalties.
The over/under is set at 12.5. Vinovich has averaged 11.6 called penalties per game. The 49ers (10th) and Chiefs (15th) were also below average in penalties per game this season.
With a referee who calls few penalties and two teams that don’t draw a ton of flags, I like the under 12.5 (-115).
