Rams win but don’t cover in ‘best Super Bowl ever’ for sportsbook
For the first time in 13 years, the point spread mattered in the Super Bowl.
The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 on Sunday to win their first NFL title since moving to LA. But for the first time since 2009 — when the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23 as 7-point favorites — the Super Bowl winner didn’t cover the point spread.
Cincinnati covered as a 4½-point underdog, and the game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, stayed under the total of 48½ in a result that couldn’t have been scripted better by Las Vegas sportsbooks, which won millions of dollars.
“It was our best Super Bowl ever,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “The Rams winning by one, two or three and keeping the game under was clearly our best case.”
Los Angeles trailed for most of the second half until Matthew Stafford threw the game-winning, 1-yard touchdown pass to Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp with 1:25 left.
Caesars Sportsbook and BetMGM reported seven-figure wins, and the South Point, Boyd Gaming and the Westgate SuperBook also won on the game.
“The game itself was absolutely perfect for us,” Caesars vice president of trading Craig Mucklow said. “Especially when you take a $10 million bet on the opposite side.”
Houston furniture store owner Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale lost $9.5 million in wagers placed at Caesars on the Bengals on the money line (+170).
Las Vegas books won on the Super Bowl for the 30th time in 32 years since the Nevada Gaming Control Board started tracking the game in 1991.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
