Super Bowl 57 betting: Books win big on Chiefs beating Eagles; bettors collect on total going over

The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t the only big winners on Super Bowl Sunday. So, too, were several bettors who placed six-figure wagers on Kansas City to knock off the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Additionally, with the majority of money on the Chiefs vs. Eagles total landing on the Over, the 38-35 final score in Super Bowl 57 was a bad result for sportsbooks across the country.

Several popular prop bets involving Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts and Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce also cashed.

But don’t shed any tears for oddsmakers. They held onto a lot of Eagles money (including one sportsbook that took a pair of seven-figure wagers on Philly).

In fact, the Chiefs’ come-from-behind win was a positive outcome for most sportsbooks. Those books also fared well when multiple passing props involving Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes fell short of projections.

Here’s a recap of Super Bowl 57 betting action.

On Feb. 4, eight days before the Chiefs and Eagles squared off in Super Bowl 57, two different BetMGM customers backed up their faith in Philadelphia with two massive moneyline bets.

One was a $1.25 million wager and the other a $1 million bet, each at -125 odds on the Eagles to simply defeat Kansas City, no matter the margin.

Those were the only known million-dollar wagers placed prior to Super Bowl 57. And both looked good when the Eagles took a 24-14 lead into halftime.

Some two hours later, though, those wagers went up in smoke after Kansas City battled back and snapped a 35-35 tie with a game-winning field goal in the waning seconds.

» READ MORE: Super Bowl 58 odds: Chiefs favored to repeat as champions in 2023-24

On the flip side, that field goal made big winners of two other BetMGM customers.

One had a $500,000 moneyline bet on Kansas City at +105 odds. The bet netted $525,000 (total payout of $1.025 million).

Another BetMGM customer back in January placed a $35,000 futures wager on the Chiefs to win Super Bowl 57 at +275 odds. That individual pocketed $96,250 in profit ($131,250 total).

Over at Caesars Sportsbook, multiple big bettors scored nice six-figure paydays courtesy of the Chiefs’ 38-35 win.

One customer collected $880,000 on an $800,000 Kansas City moneyline wager at +110 odds; another took hom $500,000 on a $550,000 bet on the Chiefs +1.5 points (-110 odds); and a third cleared $441,000 on a $420,000 Chiefs moneyline bet at +105.

When all was said and done, most sportsbooks were more than happy to see Kansas City claim the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second time in four years.

As for the game soaring Over the 51-point total (ending a string of four straight Unders in the Super Bowl)?

Not so much.

“The Chiefs winning the Super Bowl was a good outcome for the sportsbook, but bettors made money with the over hitting,” said Seamus Magee, a sports trader at BetMGM.

Indeed, the Super Bowl 57 total opened as low as 48.5 in some spots, quickly shot up to 49.5, then 50.5 and 51.

Despite those moves, bettors continued to hammer the Over during the weekend, with some sportsbooks closing the total at 51.5.

None of those numbers ended up mattering.

Both Philadelphia and Kansas City scored touchdowns halfway into the first quarter. And when Mahomes threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Kadarious Toney just three minutes into the fourth quarter to give the Chiefs a 28-27 lead, Over bettors rejoiced.

Not only did the full game clear the total, but the first-quarter Over (14 points), first-half Over (38 points) and second-half Over (35 points) all easily hit.

All that scoring made one New York-based Caesars Sportsbook bettor particularly happy:

That $1.2 million in-game wager at -110 odds delivered a profit of nearly $1.1 million. It cashed with 5:20 remaining, when Hurts tied the score at 35-35 on his third rushing touchdown of the game (and followed it up with a 2-point conversion run).

Sunday’s game goes down as the third highest-scoring Super Bowl of all time. It ranks behind only Super Bowl 29 (49ers beat the Chargers 49-26) and Super Bowl 52 (Eagles beat the Patriots 41-33).

The 71 total points also nearly matched the number of points the Eagles and Chiefs scored in their previous meeting in Week 4 of the 2021 season. Kansas City won that game, 42-30.

Those who wagered on a high-scoring game weren’t the only ones who went to bed Sunday night with a smile.

Several Hurts- and Kelce-related props that bettors attacked in the two weeks leading up to the game also hit. These included:

» READ MORE: Full sports betting coverage from The Philadelphia Inquirer

Other popular props that cashed included:

Mahomes winning his second Super Bowl MVP also was a popular play, but he went off as the slim +130 favorite at most shops.

The 2022-23 NFL MVP won another piece of hardware largely because of his three touchdown passes. Otherwise, Mahomes had a pedestrian day throwing the ball, going just 21-for-27 for 182 yards.

Those numbers helped sportsbooks recoup some cash from all those who wagered on Mahomes to go Over his passing attempts, completions and yardage projections — he came up way short on all three.

So how did bettors fare against sportsbooks overall in Super Bowl 57? Those numbers will be made public in the coming days.

Rest assured, though, when they check the bottom line, bookmakers will be as happy as the Chiefs and their fans were Sunday.

As the cliché goes: The house never loses.

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.