Many bettors were backing the Detroit Lions before the season kicked off, with Detroit receiving the largest percentage of tickets (38.3%) and handle (37.2%) at BetMGM.

The Lions’ defense crumbled in the second half of the NFC Championship game, relinquishing a 24-7 lead to San Francisco, the Niners ultimately winning 34-31.

Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey led the 49ers’ offense to 17 points in the third quarter alone, tying the game.

A crucial decision to go for it on fourth down instead of kicking a field goal has been the main point of blame for the Lions’ loss, but in the end, it was Detroit’s defense that led to San Francisco outscoring the Lions’ 27-7 in the second half.

The 49ers will now play in their eighth Super Bowl in franchise history.

San Francisco won their first five Super Bowl appearances, but they’ve lost their last two, with their latest Super Bowl defeat coming from Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

For Kansas City, this will be their fourth Super Bowl matchup in the last six years, and their sixth in franchise history.

Although Mahomes and Travis Kelce will steal a majority of the headlines surrounding the Chiefs, it’s their defense that’s been stealing games.

Kansas City’s defense frustrated the Baltimore Ravens’ offense for the entirety of the AFC Championship game. The Chiefs held the Ravens to only 10 points and forced three turnovers, including a near game-sealing interception in the endzone with under seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Let’s take a closer look at the finalists for Super Bowl 58 and where the best odds are currently found.

Super Bowl 58

Kansas City Chiefs (-1, -112 ML) vs. San Francisco 49ers (+1, +100 ML)

Total: Over 47.5 (-110 | bet365), Under 47.5 (-105 | DraftKings)

Kansas City finished the regular season with a record of 11-6, and they’ve won five games in a row, dating back to Week 17.

The Chiefs’ last loss came in a head-scratching game against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 16.

Kansas City’s defense allowed only 62 passing yards to Raiders’ quarterback Aidan O’Connell, but still found a way to lose 20-14.

Losing the turnover battle 2-0 certainly didn’t help.

Regularly one of the NFL’s most prolific offenses, the Chiefs took a step back this season, falling to the 15th-ranked scoring offense (22.1 ppg).

From the beginning of the 2018-19 season to 2022-23, Kansas City didn’t finish any lower than sixth.

The Chiefs’ offense will need to be clicking against the 49ers’ explosive offense in Super Bowl 58.

The 49ers’ offense is the NFL’s second-highest scoring offense, averaging 28.9 points per game, and they continued to show their offensive prowess against the Detroit Lions last week, overcoming a 24-7 deficit.

Brock Purdy was the NFL’s highest rated passer this season (113), and his ability to limit mistakes has made San Francisco’s offense the most efficient.

The Niners’ turnover margin per game is +0.6 (2nd in NFL), while the Chief’s turnover margin per game is -0.5 (25th in NFL), so Purdy’s efficiency has made an impact.

As good a their passing attack has been, the best way for San Francisco to move the ball against Kansas City will be on the ground, as the Chiefs’ rushing defense is allowing 113.2 yards per game (17th in NFL).

Christian McCaffrey should have a huge workload in Super Bowl 58.

Kansas City allowed only 81 rushing yards to the Ravens last week, but Baltimore essentially abandoned their ground game in the second half.

That won’t be the case for the 49ers in the Big Game. San Fran should run it early and often and grind down the clock, keeping Mahomes on the sideline.

As the Buffalo Bills showed in the Divisional round, the Chiefs can be vulnerable to the run, picking up 182 rushing yards in their narrow 27-24 loss.

It’ll be tougher in the trenches for Kansas City’s running game, as San Francisco’s defensive front has been a brick wall at times, allowing only 89.3 rushing yards per game (3rd in NFL).

The Lions did run for 182 yards and three touchdowns in the NFC Championship game, but it was the second-most rushing yards the 49ers’ defense allowed all season. Approaching 200 rushing yards may not be duplicated by the less-dynamic backfield of the Chiefs.

For the Chiefs, they’ll need to put the game in Mahomes’ hands.

San Francisco’s passing defense is their weakest point, allowing 232.3 passing yards per game (14th in NFL), and they allowed 20 passing touchdowns to only 10 rushing touchdowns in the regular season.

Considering that Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense has not been operating as it has in recent years, and the 49ers’ offense has been higher-scoring and more efficient, I believe that San Francisco will win Super Bowl 58.

The Niners’ first two playoff wins came by only three points each, and I can see it coming down to the wire once again.

I’ll say final score will be 21-18, 49ers.

Pick: 49ers Moneyline | Best Odds: (-112) FanDuel

Pick: Under 47.5 | Best Odds: (-105) DraftKings

Popular 2024 NFL Super Bowl Bets

The Super Bowl is North America’s most popular annual sporting event.

Each year, billions of spectators worldwide watch, and millions of dollars are wagered on this game.

But often, it’s not the actual game or teams involved that are being wagered on. Fans of all interest levels enjoy the impressive exotic prop bet selection offered only for the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl Prop Bets

Betting On The National Anthem

What better way to get Super Bowl Sunday started than with a prop bet on the Star-Spangled Banner?

It’s the Super Bowl! This isn’t going to be your run-of-the-mill national anthem.

You can be guaranteed a big name will perform it.

You can be guaranteed fighter jets will be flying over at the exact perfect moment, and you can be guaranteed it will be a spectacular rendition.

What you can’t guarantee is how long it will take the artist to perform it.

But you can bet on it.

Who doesn’t love to get the first bet settled before the game even kicks off?

Gatorade Dumped On Winning Coach

Dumping a bucket of Gatorade over an unsuspecting Super Bowl-winning head coach is a tradition that has been going on in the NFL for decades.

Winning Color	Times Dumped
Orange	5 x times
No Color (Clear)	4 x times
Blue	3 x times
Yellow	3 x times
No Gatorade Dump Performed	4 x times

Overall, Orange is the color that has been dumped the most onto a winning HC. Bettors should know that Blue Gatorade has been the color of choice over the last two years.

Another piece of strategy for this Super Bowl prop is betting No Gatorade Dump on a veteran Head Coach who has won before.

There was no doubt that first-time Super Bowl winner Sean McVay would get a bucket dumped on him in Super Bowl 56.

But will Bill Belichick forgive a player at this point of his career for a Gatorade Bath? Highly unlikely you will be on the roster next year if you dump the sugar juice on Bill.

Super Bowl MVP

As much fun as the exotic prop bets are, there are some who will actually wager on the game as well. The most popular game prop annually is betting on the Super Bowl MVP.

Super Bowl Year	Player	Team	Position
2023	Patrick Mahomes	Chiefs	QB
2022	Cooper Kupp	Rams	WR
2021	Tom Brady	Buccaneers	QB
2020	Patrick Mahomes	Chiefs	QB
2019	Julian Edelman	Patriots	WR
2018	Nick Foles	Eagles	QB
2017	Tom Brady	Patriots	QB
2016	Von Miller	Broncos	LB
2015	Tom Brady	Patriots	QB
2014	Malcolm Smith	Seahawks	LB

Our table above tells us that in six of the last ten years, the MVP of the big game has been the winning QB. Considering that the league-wide MVP award is dominated by QBs as well, this is not a surprise.

Also not surprising is seeing Tom Brady on the list three times since he turned 35 years old.

Last year, Cooper Kupp won the award, but many felt the best value bet was Aaron Donald.

The Rams’ defense held the Bengals to just 20 points in the Super Bowl and Aaron Donald was the best defensive player on the field.

NFL Super Bowl Point Spread Betting

Throughout the regular season and most of the playoffs, NFL point spread betting is the most popular type of bet placed each week.

For those unfamiliar with point spreads, they are used by sportsbooks to help make teams more equal from a betting perspective.

Let’s use last year’s Super Bowl point spread as an example.

Super Bowl 57 Odds:

• Philadelphia Eagles -1.5 / -110

• Kansas City Chiefs +1.5 / -110

Above, we can see that the Chiefs are listed as +1.5 points underdogs. Those points represent the assigned point spread by oddsmakers.

The plus (+) sign means that the team is the underdog. A minus (-) sign means a team is the betting favorite.

In the case of the Chiefs from last year’s Super Bowl, as +1.5 underdogs, they can lose by just 1 point OR win outright, and be considered the winning team for this bet.

NFL Super Bowl Moneyline Betting

Sometimes, it makes sense to bet on the point spread, and sometimes it makes sense to bet on the moneyline.

In last year’s Super Bowl, we already discussed how the point spread was set at +1.5 for the Chiefs.

What if you could bet Kansas City +1.5 / -110 on the spread or bet the Chiefs to win the game outright on the moneyline and get them at +115 instead?

At -110 odds, a $100 point spread bettor would win $90.90.

At +115 odds, a $100 moneyline bettor would win $115 in profit.

Now a bettor has to decide how important those +1.5 points really are. What are the chances the Chiefs lose by just 1-point? Is that one point worth $24 in profit?

Those are the decisions a bettor faces when choosing when to bet the point spread and when to throw down on the moneyline instead.

Super Bowl Betting Strategies

There is no other sporting event in North America that comes close to the Super Bowl regarding popularity and betting.

Millions of fans will place a bet on the big game who wouldn’t usually bet on NFL football.

There will also be hundreds of media personalities who decide to weigh in with their opinion on how the game will play out.

Follow The Sharp Money

History tells us that both the general public and famous media personalities are not very good at picking winners.

As a Super Bowl bettor, you need to dig through all the noise and find information that can help. Finding sources on how the sharp money is betting is always great information.

Several sites track sharp and public money and share that information with the betting public.

Remember, Sharp Money is not just betting on a particular team. They are betting on a team and the odds associated with them.

Sharp money may have loved the Bengals at +3.5 points in Super Bowl 56, but if that line fell under a field goal, they might not touch it.

When you are tailing sharp money bets, it’s essential to understand what odds they are playing as well.

If you research early enough in the week and shop around, you should have luck finding your Best Odds.

Super Bowl Prop Betting History

During the 1985-’86 season, the Chicago Bears weren’t beating opponents, they were toying with them and having fun at their expense.

In fact, Head Coach Mike Ditka was having so much fun that his 350-pound D-Lineman, William “The Refrigerator” Perry, was being used on offense to carry the ball in goal-line situations.

That season, the Chicago Bears would meet the New England Patriots in what was expected to be a somewhat predictable and boring Super Bowl.

Las Vegas sports-gambling legend Art Manteris saw an opportunity to attract even more bettors and public money to the big game.

Manteiris decided to offer “The Fridge” to score an anytime TD at +2000, in what has considered the first-ever Super Bowl prop bet.

It didn’t take long for other sportsbooks to offer the same bet.

The public loved the opportunity to throw a couple of bucks down on a novelty prop, and by the time the game kicked off, odds on Perry to score a TD were down to +200.

Although Perry did punch one into the endzone and the sportsbooks took a big loss in year one with their novelty prop bet, a new Super Bowl tradition was born.

Today, bettors have hundreds of Super Bowl prop betting options, and the novelty and game prop bets have become a Super Bowl staple for fans.

How To Bet The Super Bowl

Betting on the Super Bowl has been happening since Vince Lombardi, and the Green Bay Packers were running power sweeps.

Fortunately for today’s NFL bettor, it has never been easier to place a Super Bowl wager. If you live in one of the many legalized states, you already have great operators open for business.

When you chose a regulated, licensed sportsbook, you have the peace of mind that there is a governing body in charge of ensuring these operators follow the rules and aren’t able to take advantage of their customer base.

If you don’t already have your different accounts set up, you will want to browse through the different bonus options available for setting up a new account.

Each operator has their own unique bonus offering to try and earn your business. Take the time to read through the details being offered.

Sometimes a free cash deposit comes with certain restrictions before you can withdraw it.

You can also download sportsbook apps in advance of opening an account and become familiar with their digital platform before you place bets.

Are they user-friendly and do they make it easy for you to find your game and place your bet?

A bettor has never had as many quality options to place their Super Bowl bets as they do today.

Give yourself some time to explore the options before you place your first bet.

Always Shop Around For The Best Odds

The Super Bowl is no different than all the other sports gambling events we like to break down and discuss.

If you are interested in making a wager or two on the big game, shopping around for the Best Odds is the best strategy and advice you can follow.

Let’s look at a very fun novelty prop bet, the total length of the national anthem.

The Over / Under on how long it would take grammy-nominated singer Mickey Guyton to perform last year’s national anthem was 92.5 seconds, 95.5 seconds, or 98.5 seconds, depending on which sportsbook you chose.

Depending on how you want to bet, you can gain an extra six seconds just by shopping around for your best odds.

That extra six seconds equates to an almost 7% edge for a bettor, just by picking the best line for their bet.

On a single wager, that 7% edge may or may not be a difference-maker., But over time, a 7% edge can significantly impact your overall profit and ROI.