Which Super Bowl betting markets offer you the best returns or the best chance of a win?
Every February one of the biggest sporting events of the year takes place – the Super Bowl.
The Champions of the AFC will take on their counterparts from the NFC at a pre-designated time and place. With the aim to battle it out to be the new NFL Champions and holders of the Lombardi Trophy.
However, the Super Bowl is more than just a game. It is a spectacle. Resplendent with all the glamour and glitz you would come to expect from an American showpiece event.
That includes the Super Bowl Halftime show, a 20-minute set which usually features one or more of the biggest music acts in the world today. Often with a host of co-stars popping up for good measure!
Unsurprisingly, Super Bowl betting is hugely popular, not just in the burgeoning US betting industry, but also elsewhere across the globe too.
So, in this post, we are going to look at some of the best Super Bowl betting markets available. Primarily in terms of their potential to offer good value returns. We will then also look at some of the bets which may offer slightly lesser return value, but which offer a good chance of success.
Finally, we’ll look at some of the markets which can offer good value, but which appear to be much easier to win on than they are.
As always, we will be using odds and markets taken from bet365 Sport for this article, given that the site offers exceptionally good NFL betting throughout the year, as well as extensive Super Bowl betting markets, both pre-match and In Play.
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So, let’s now begin with a look at some of the Super Bowl betting options, starting with those that are available both before and during the season.
A Punter’s Guide to the Best Super Bowl Betting Markets
Did you know that you can bet on some Super Bowl betting markets before the regular season in the NFL has begun?
Furthermore, you can continue to bet on these markets throughout the regular season and into the post-season too.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the more interesting options available. However, please note that any screenshots shown are taken from when the NFL season had reached the Playoffs. Hence not all pre and regular season betting options are shown for the betting markets.
Pre-Season and Regular Season Super Bowl Betting Markets
- To Win Outright
Arguably the most popular bet on the Super Bowl is a wager on who will win it! Usually, you will get the best prices, certainly on the better teams, prior to the season beginning.
Once the season begins, these odds will be updated as a team’s form improves or declines. So you can sometimes pick up a good value bet if a team has a slow start, but improves towards the end of the season.
The 2023/24 season saw the Buffalo Bills do this. So backing them to win the Super Bowl midway through the season, when they had a non-winning record, would have seen you get good value odds.
That said most people prefer to place their bet before the regular season starts. Partly because it can be great fun to follow your backed team, as well as the team you support in the NFL.
- Super Bowl MVP
Many punters prefer to wait until the two Super Bowl finalists are confirmed before betting on the Super Bowl MVP. The problem with this, is that you have narrowed down the potential options so much, finding value for this bet then is very difficult.
However, you can also make this bet at any point in the season. Additionally, the earlier you make it in advance of the Super Bowl, the more likely it is that you will get better value odds on the player you pick.
Of course, this bet is reliant upon a couple of things. Your player and his team have to reach the Super Bowl. Then the player you back has to then win the MVP award. That is very tricky as most Super Bowl MVP awards tend to go to the winning quarterback.§1
From 2007 to 2023, a Quarterback won the MVP award 12 out of 17 times (Wide Receivers won it three times and Linebackers twice in that period).
- To Win Conference
This may not seem like a Super Bowl betting market. But when you are picking which team will win the AFC and NFC Conferences each season, you are effectively placing a bet on which team will play in the Super Bowl.
At the start of each season, there are 16 possible Conference Championship winners. Ranked from the best and most favoured teams, down to the rank outsiders.
Over the course of the season, these odds will change as teams win and lose matches. Of course, they will also change a great deal once the regular season ends, and the playoffs start. (This is shown in the screen shot above).
Getting your bet placed early on in the season will offer you the best chance of some value odds. Plus if you bet on the NFC and AFC Conference winners, you’ll have your two-team prediction for who will contest the Super Bowl too.
- Final Exact Forecast
This is a Super Bowl betting market which has a massive number of options and which may well be best to wait until the playoffs begin to place your bet, although there are many punters who also like to place this bet early in the season too.
With this bet, you are not only picking which teams from the AFC and NFC will reach the Super Bowl, but you are also betting on which of the two teams will win the game too.
Of course, the greater the odds on your individual selections, then the greater the odds will be on this bet. Pick two rank outsiders to compete in the Super Bowl and this bet can potentially land major returns if the unexpected happens.
Super Bowl Betting Markets for Super Bowl Week
Once the Conference Championship games are played, the two Super Bowl finalists will be known. There is then a two-week break for the teams, with the NFL Pro Bowl Games taking place over the weekend in the middle of the two weeks.
It is then most punters will start to consider the best betting markets for the Super Bowl and there are plenty to choose from.
Outlined below are a list of some of the markets that are very popular with punters when placing Super Bowl bets with bet365.
- Super Bowl Game Line Markets – Spread, Total (Over/Under) and Money Line bets.
- Bet Builder Accumulators
- Winning Margin Bets
- Touchdown Scorers (First, Last or Anytime)
- Team to Make the First Score
- First Score Method
Alongside these bets there are a huge range of other betting markets available with Team and Player Prop bets, plus a whole host of First Quarter, First Half, Second Half and Full Time markets available too.
Are there any tricky Super Bowl Betting Markets to be wary about?
Personally, I find that the Touchdown Scorer bets can be tricky to land, unless you go for the Anytime to score option.
Even though certain players may score lots of touchdown during the regular season, or during the playoffs, or both, they tend to score them at different points of the game.
In fact, there’s no guarantee any regular touchdown scorer will score the first touchdown of the game and in the Super Bowl, that is probably even more so.
That’s because in the Super Bowl, both teams have a seasons-worth of data to look at and so, their most common plays and players to target for opening touchdowns, may well be the focus of a defensive scheme to stop that play.
Therefore, offensive coordinators can and do try to look for different plays and players to help the team score points.
Super Bowl Betting can be great fun and can enhance your enjoyment of an already action-packed and star-studded occasion.
We hope this guide has helped you decide on which Super Bowl betting markets you want to back the next time the big game is set to take place!
