The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday evening at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California — a result that sportsbooks were happy to see.
While the betting public generally backed the the Seahawks to cover the 4.5-point spread, the game stayed under the total and many player’s yardage props stayed under, including Seahawks WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba.
Advertisement
To wit: More than half of all parlay wagers at Hard Rock Bet were on the Seahawks to win, Smith-Njigba to score a touchdown and Kennth Walker III to score a TD. Neither Smith-Njigba or Walker III scored a TD, and the first TD going to Seahawks TE AJ Barner also helped books.
Even before the game kicked off, there was plenty of fireworks, as one bettor at Caesars Palace wagered $253,000 — all in cash — on the coin toss to be heads at -103 odds. The bettor won over $245,000 after the coin toss landed heads. A different bettor in Iowa at Caesars had bet $100,000 on tails earlier in the week.
Sportsbooks were hurt by some bettors capitalizing on alternate lines for the Seahawks (Seattle -6.5, -7.5, -10, etc.), but overall it was a good day for the sportsbooks.
Circa Sports in Las Vegas took not one, but two seven-figure wagers on the Patriots money line, which certainly helped the book’s bottom line on the game.
Advertisement
“Hell of a a day given our futures position,” Jeff Benson, director of operations at Circa Sports, told Yahoo Sports. “Took two million-dollar bets on the Patriots, which worked out well. Lot of unders on props. Game staying under was beautiful. Kenneth Walker III [winning] MVP was good. We cleaned up and I’ll be heading to the beach to enjoy my riches.”
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported on Monday evening that Nevada sportsbooks won $9.9 million from $133.8 million in total wagers across the state’s 186 sportsbooks. The equates to a 7.4% hold, despite the lowest amount wagered in the state on a Super Bowl since 2016. The overall handle on the Super Bowl was $151.6 million last year and a record $190 million for the 2024 game between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Advertisement
“I thought our hold was solid, considering the public was squarely on the favorite and they won and covered,” John Murray, vice president of race and sports at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook said in a text message. “Lost some money in garbage time on props, which is always painful to watch. I said I thought it was a forgettable game and a forgettable result, but we did fine.”
No overtime, no safety and only two players throwing a pass were other props that helped sportsbooks avoid big losses. The Seattle defense scoring a late touchdown on an Uchenna Nwosu 45-yard interception return caused by a Devon Witherspoon sack was one multiple oddsmakers told Yahoo Sports hurt them in the props market.
“Overall a solid day,” Chuck Espositio, Station Casinos sportsbook director noted. “We had a lot of Patriots money show in the 48 hours leading up to kickoff. Keeping it under definitely helped. Two props were extremely good for the guests … defensive score and the special point spreads with the Seahawks winning by so much.”
Perhaps one longtime Vegas oddsmaker summed it up best when asked how the game went for his book: “Pretty nice day.”
Read the full article here
