The Super Bowl lflip coin made right in Brevard.
The official flip Super Bowl coin is minted in Melbourne Florida, right off of the Eau Gallie Blvd.
Twenty billion dollars will be illegally bet worldwide on Super Bowl 59, with more than half the United States adult population having a wager on the game via U.S. and offshore bookmakers, internet wagers, office pools, person-to-person bets and Super Bowl parties, making it the single biggest sports betting event annually.
There is no close second or third annual betting event to the Super Bowl, which is the main reason it is the highest-rated TV show every year – even if you’re tired of the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles meeting for the second time in three years.
Currently, 39 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico offer legal sports betting. I’d estimate that within three years, more than 44 states will offer legal sports betting.
Carl Johnson is the sports director for the Biloxi, Mississippi, Beau Rivage Casino BET MGM, one of the most opulent player-friendly sportsbooks in the country. The Super Bowl is his … well, Super Bowl.
“Super Bowl betting increases every year,” Johnson said. “This year, we’ll have a full reserved house in our sportsbook, upstairs in our main ballroom and we have plans to put the expected overflow crowd in our 2,000-seat theater arena. Additionally, we’ll have 11 kiosk machines taking wagers. Every betting window will be fully staffed from sunup until the game ends.
“Since 60%-70% of our Super Bowl handle will be in Prop Bets, we’ll have a prop catalog listing 400-500 prop bets to hand out to our customers. We expect several six-figure bets and wouldn’t rule out some seven-figure bets.”
John Murray, VP of racing and sports at the Westgate Las Vegas Super Book, echoed Johnson.
“We’ll have 19 fully-staffed betting windows open game day to handle the shark-feeding frenzy of nonstop betting, and expect many six-figure wagers,” Murray said. “We’ll offer 500 Prop Bets. We don’t want a high-scoring game like the Chiefs–Eagles two years ago, as the public wins by betting OVER on most Prop Bets. We’ll have five people grading and verifying Prop Bets, as we pay winning Prop Bets during the game. We’re rooting for a low-scoring, very boring game, as most of the Prop Bets will go UNDER the total.”
Jay Kornegay, VP of Westgate Super Book Marketing, is considered the “father of Super Bowl Prop Bets” as he tripled the prop bet menu in the 1990s to today’s 500 Super Bowl Prop Bets. He said he could create 1,000 Super Bowl Prop Bets, but their sportsbook doesn’t have time to get them on the betting board. Kornegay said the best-case scenario every Super Bowl for his sportsbook is “for the favorite to win and not cover the spread, and a low-scoring game to negate the Over on the majority of Prop Bets.”
Like the legal U.S. sports betting industry, offshore bookmakers I’ve talked to confirmed that the Super Bowl betting handle increases every year. One offshore sportsbook owner, whose clients include well-known singers, bands, agents, and former and current professional athletes, said, “They bet the Super Bowl like there’s no tomorrow!”
His favorite bettor is a female singer who bets $50,000 annually on only the coin-flip winner. He said she’s been doing it for over 13 years and is “up two wins.” This year, she bet “heads” as she said she likes the handsome faces of quarterbacks Pat Mahomes and Jalen Hurts. BET MGM said that the coin-toss outcome is a top 10 most-bet prop, along with the end-of-game Gatorade bath color.
Since Nevada started keeping Super Bowl betting records in 1991, the betting public has beaten the Nevada Sports Books only two years (1995, 2008).
As a service to Super Bowl bettors everywhere, I’ve come up with these six rules, two of which have helped me correctly predict 21 of the last 24 Super Bowls versus the spread and 20 of the last 24 OVER/UNDER totals. They will help you wager correctly and win or save you money on Super Bowl 59:
Rule No. 1: Ignore the point spread
Only seven times has the winner of the game failed to beat the spread, a record of 48-7-3 (87%). A 57% success rate against the spread is very profitable. Ignore the point spread and wager on who you think will win the game.
Take a look at these recent Super Bowl outcomes:
- Last year, Kansas City was a 2-point underdog and defeated the San Francisco 49ers 25-22.
- In 2023, KC was a 1.5-point underdog to Philadelphia and won 38-35.
- In 2021, Tampa Bay was a 3.5-point underdog and upset Kansas City 31-9.
- In 2020, Kansas City was a 1.5 favorite and beat San Francisco 31-20 at Hard Rock Stadium.
- In 2019, New England was a 2.5-point favorite and beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3.
- In 2018, Philadelphia was a 4½-point underdog and upset New England 41-33.
- In 2017, New England rallied to beat Atlanta 34-28 as a 3-point favorite.
The last two teams to win the Super Bowl and not beat the spread were the Los Angeles Rams (-4) defeating Cincinnati 23-20 in 2022, and Pittsburgh (-7) edging Arizona 27-23 in 2009.
Rule No. 2: Bet the Under when potent offenses clash
Total points wagering (the combined score) has become the second-most popular Super Bowl wager. When offensively potent teams meet, bet the Under, as they tend to play conservatively, feeling they can score whenever they want. Also, many offensive juggernauts open up only after they’ve felt each out for a half.
In 2024, the 49ers and Chiefs (two prolific offenses) barely went under the 47.5 total (KC, 25-22), as the game went into overtime. In 2022, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford vs Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, went under the 48.5 total (23-20).
In 2021, Kansas City vs Tampa Bay (Tom Brady vs Mahomes, two Hall of Fame QB scoring machines) went UNDER the 56-point total (31-9). In 2020, Kansas City vs San Francisco (two teams that scored 88 and 72 combined points respectively, in their two previous playoff games), went UNDER the total of 53 (31-20).
In 2019, the total opened at an all-time high 59 points (closing at game time at 56) as the Patriots and Rams, the two top-scoring teams in the league, scored a combined 16 points finishing well UNDER the total (13-3).
Conversely, if two dominant defensive giants collide, bet the OVER because the offenses tend to open up, figuring that any scoring will help their defense and they are less fearful of making mistakes. When these offenses open up, they are more prone to turnovers, which often leads to more scoring.
Watch Super LIX with a Fubo FREE trial
In 2023, two of the league’s best defenses (Kansas City and Philadelphia) combined to score 73 points, roaring over the 51-point total. In 2018, Philadelphia and New England, which had dominated their opponents defensively in the playoffs, scored 74 points (41-33), easily beating the OVER (49 points). New England beat Atlanta (2017) 34-28 (total was 57). In 2015, New England and Seattle went OVER 47 (28-24) and in 2014, Seattle and Denver went OVER 47 (43-8).
If one team is known for its offense and the other team for its defense, I’d recommend attacking your Super Bowl food and drink (although not with the same intensity as Joey Chestnut at the July 4th Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest), and passing on wagering on the Total.
Of the four total wager predictions I’ve missed out of the last 24 Super Bowls, I’m 1-3 vs the spread where one team was known for its offense and the other for its defense because I don’t have the luxury of passing on the Total prediction. But you do!
Rule No. 3: Stay away from Prop Bets!
Sportsbooks will put up 400-500 proposition bets. The public generally bets proposition bets OVER the total (QB completions, player receiving and rushing yards, fumbles, field goals, etc.) and loses doing this almost every year.
One of the biggest sportsbooks in Las Vegas and offshore said before the 2024 Super Bowl, it had lost booking prop bets three times in 28 years:
- In 1995, when San Francisco beat San Diego 49-26, the highest-scoring Super Bowl.
- In 2018, when Super Bowl 52 set numerous all-time offensive records, which led to the second-highest scoring game in the game’s history (41-33).
- Two years ago, in Super Bowl 57 ( KC 38-Philadelphia 35).
Sportsbooks losing on prop bets three times in the past 27 years tells me it’s not prudent to bet them, as doing so can be hazardous to one’s wealth.
Rule No. 4: Advice for halftime betting
At halftime, the bookies post a new point spread for the second half. ALWAYS bet the team at halftime that you think will beat the original Super Bowl line, as the team that has beaten the game’s opening point spread also has beaten the halftime spread in 29 of the last 32 Super Bowls.
In Super Bowl III, the Jets were 18½-point underdogs to the Baltimore Colts. The Jets were leading 7-0 at the half, and won 16-7, easily covering the second-half line. If you become aware that your inebriated brother-in-law is about to disregard Rule No. 4, don’t hesitate to use a hip drop tackle on him – just look around and make sure Roger Goodell is not at your party first.
Rule No. 5: Avoid betting on teasers
There’s a good reason they are called teasers, as they might look good but your chances of betting them and making money aren’t good. You’d be better off accompanying Aaron Rodgers on an ayahuasca retreat, or wagering that Kim Jong Un will father Gisele Bündchen’s next child.
Rule No. 6: That goes the same for parlays
Don’t bet parlays. More than one-third of a bookmaker’s profits come from them. Two-team parlays pay 2.6:1 (true odds are 3:1); three-team parlays pay 5:1 (true odds are 7:1) and four-team parlays pay 10:1 (true odds are 15:1). You’d be better off wagering that Ms. Swift will leave Mr. Kelce for Andy Reid. Hello!
Biggest Super Bowl wagers and payouts
- In Super Bowl 20 (Chicago vs New England), the odds of William “The Refrigerator” Perry scoring a touchdown opened at 12:1. With everyone betting on him to score, the odds dropped to 1:1 at game time, and they still kept betting Perry to score. My offshore buddies and Vegas Sports Books lost seven figures when Perry scored that TD.
- Two years ago, the owner of one of the biggest offshore sportsbooks told me he lost 11 bets (at $110,000 to win $100,000) on Kansas City’s “pretty boy Patrick Mahomes.” However, one of his players bet $1,100,000 to win $1 million on the Eagles in Super Bowl 57, meaning of those 12 bets, he broke even (lost $1,100,000 on 11 KC bets and won $1,100,000 on the one Philadelphia wager). Final score: Kansas City 38-35
- In 2002, a well-known Hollywood agent to the stars bet $1 million offshore on New England +14 (with a little known QB named Tom Brady) against the St. Louis Rams. He also bet another $400,000 on New England to win outright at 6 to 1 odds, netting him a whopping $3.24 million. Final score: New England 20-17
- A high roller at the Las Vegas Mirage Hotel Sports Book in Super Bowl 29 bet $2.4 million on the 49ers to beat the Chargers at 8 to 1 odds to win $300,000. Not bad for four hours work. Final score: San Francisco 49-26.
- In Super Bowl 31, an offshore sportsbook client bought a half of a point, laying $600,000 to win $500,000 on Green Bay (-13.5 points) and bet the Patriots (+14.5) for another $600,000 to win $500,000. The only way he could win both bets and avoid losing the $60,000 vigorish is if the Packers won by 14 points, which they did by making a two-point conversion. Final score: Green Bay 35-21
- The late, legendary oddsmaker supreme Bob Martin took a $1.65 million wager to win $1.5 million on the Rams +11 points against the Steelers in Super Bowl 14. The Rams missed an extra point and lost by 12. Ouch! Final score: Los Angeles 31-19.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Sunday’s Super Bowl
Chiefs vs. Eagles
6:30 p.m., Caesars Superdome, New Orleans
TV and streaming: FOX/Fubo/Tubi/NFL+/Hulu+Live TV/YouTube