And just like that, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are America's Team.
Once word got out that Rob Gronkowski was coming out of retirement and would be following Tom Brady to Tampa Bay, the money piled up on the Bucs, who already were seeing a lot of betting support thanks to Brady's move.
DraftKings spokesman Stephen Miraglia said Wednesday morning that the sportsbook currently has 10 times more liability on the Buccaneers to win the Super Bowl than any other team.
Since the Gronkowski news hit on Tuesday afternoon, 93% of the total money bet and 80% of the tickets on DraftKings was on the Bucs.
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At FanDuel, the Bucs have generated twice as many Super Bowl bets and two-times the betting handle of any other team. (Raw numbers: 15% of all Super Bowl bets are on the Bucs; next-highest is the Eagles at 8% … and 25% of all money wagered on the Super Bowl is on Tampa; next-highest is Kansas City at 12%.)
FanDuel is also running a Bucs promotion for its users in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Virginia: You can bet Tampa Bay at 21-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, boosted from their current price of 15-1.
DraftKings opened the Bucs to win the Super Bowl in February at 50-1 (also written as +5000, a $10 bet would net $500). That number shortened to 40-1 when word leaked that the Bucs had a strong offer into Brady. When Brady signed, the Bucs went to 20-1.
Tampa Bay was holding steady at 16-1 prior to the trade for Gronkowski on Tuesday but that number quickly dipped to 12-1 after it became evident that Gronk was heading to The Big Guava.
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The Bucs, who finished 7-9 in 2019 and haven't finished above .500 since 2016, are now one of the five favorites to win Super Bowl LV at DraftKings. Only the Chiefs (6-1), Ravens (7-1) and 49ers (9-1) boast shorter odds, while the New Orleans Saints are tied with Tampa at 12-1.
Spokespeople for BetMGM and PointsBet also said the Bucs now represent their greatest liability. BetMGM has the shortest odds for the Bucs to win it all at 9-1.
