Super Bowl LVI betting: There hasn't been any line movement in a while, which is rare
On the Monday after the conference championship games, 13 days before Super Bowl LVI, BetMGM moved the Los Angeles Rams to a 4.5-point favorite and the total to 48.5 points.
And that was the last time either line moved.
It's a bit strange. The Super Bowl gets the most betting attention of any sporting event. Usually that means line movement after one side gets a majority of the action. BetMGM director of trading Jeff Stoneback said the sportsbook is getting a typical amount of betting action on the game, but the betting has been split fairly evenly between the Rams and Cincinnati Bengals, as well as the over and under. As a result, there hasn't been any line movements in more than a week.
"It is rare," Stoneback said. "Off the top of my head, I can't remember going from one Monday to the next Thursday before the Super Bowl without any line movement at all. That is unusual, different than past years. I guess the linemakers did their jobs and it's a good number."
It can still change. Stoneback says about 85 percent of the money bet on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas comes in over the last few days before kickoff, starting Thursday night. Perhaps the California factor will cause one-sided Rams action and a line move.
Rams could get late bets
The Rams aren't a "public team," which bettors and oddsmakers call a team that will get a ton of bets from casual fans no matter the spread. The Rams haven't yet built up a huge, blindly devoted fan base.
Yet, Las Vegas gets many visitors from California every weekend. And the Super Bowl gets more attention than any other game, of course. There will be some extra Rams bets due to that connection.
"I do think if you're coming from L.A., you're not betting against the Rams," Stoneback said. "You're not going to want to root against your regional team."
Stoneback said there has been a slight edge to the Bengals in bets made, about 6-to-5 he said. Two six-figure bets were made on the Rams. Without those two bets, the money bet on both sides is pretty equal.
The betting on the Super Bowl has been fairly normal. Things pick up a lot on the weekend, and Stoneback said a flood of action could change the lines. He said he wouldn't be surprised if the total of 48.5 moved, though the line of Rams -4.5 could stay that way until kickoff. It's just that in a week-and-a-half leading up the Super Bowl, the betting has been status quo.
"Not a lot of line movement or excitement," Stoneback said. "But talk to us in three days."
Odell Beckham Jr., Aaron Donald lead popular props
The betting on props is a little tougher to predict, though the same props are always most popular at BetMGM: First touchdown scorer and Super Bowl MVP.
In the first touchdown scorer market there was a surprise. Odell Beckham Jr. is getting the most tickets. He is 10-to-1 to score the first touchdown. Cooper Kupp is second, and then a big gap to Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Joe Burrow.
"That's a little surprise because Kupp has always been on top this season," Stoneback said.
Kupp doesn't lead the Super Bowl MVP bets either. That's Aaron Donald, who has more MVP bets than any other player by a "significant margin." The odds on Donald moved from 16-to-1 to 12-to-1. Kupp has the second-most Super Bowl MVP bets, Burrow is third and Beckham is fourth.
Many of the yardage total props are getting most of the action on the over, with an especially high percentage of over bets on Kupp and Beckham receiving yardage totals. That's not unusual because most Super Bowl props have a majority of bets on the over. There hasn't been a lot of line movement on the Kupp and Beckham props, because the sportsbooks don't want to move the lines too much and entice sharp bets on the under.
"You don't want to overreact because a lot of that is public play," Stoneback said. "The pros are waiting like sharks for the lines to move."