Patrick Mahomes delivers Super Bowl win to Chiefs, sportsbooks
Patrick Mahomes pulled off one of his most impressive magic acts in leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday.
The reigning NFL MVP also delivered another Super Bowl win to Las Vegas sportsbooks, who have won on the game in 31 of the 33 years since the Nevada Gaming Control Board started tracking it in 1991.
“It was a substantial win for the house,” MGM Resorts director of trading Lamarr Mitchell said. “It was one of our better days of the football season.”
Mahomes re-aggravated the right ankle injury he suffered in the AFC championship game late in the second quarter. The quarterback limped off the field as Philadelphia, which closed as a 1½-point favorite, took a 10-point halftime lead.
But Mahomes was sensational in the second half, throwing two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and scrambling 26 yards on his bum ankle on the game-winning drive. That helped set up Harrison Butker’s tiebreaking 27-yard field goal with eight seconds left that lifted Kansas City to a 38-35 victory and its second Super Bowl title in four years.
“He’s amazing,” Westgate SuperBook vice president Jay Kornegay said. “He doesn’t have a lot of star players around him. You’ve got to tip your cap to that guy and to coach (Andy) Reid. They had some outstanding plays in the second half that completely fooled a very good defense.”
Bettors won big wagering over the total of 51½ points, and a Caesars Sportsbook bettor won a $1.2 million halftime wager on over 62½.
“The over was not good,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “The Eagles and over would’ve been the worst-case scenario, so getting the Chiefs to win was good from our side of the counter.”
A Caesars Sportsbook bettor lost a $2.2 million bet on Philadelphia -1½, and BetMGM bettors lost money-line wagers of $1.25 million and $1 million on the Eagles (-125). (A money-line wager is a bet on simply who will win the game.)
Las Vegas is on the clock for Super Bowl LVIII on Feb. 11, 2024.
The Chiefs and Buffalo Bills are the 6-1 favorites at the Westgate SuperBook to win next year’s NFL championship at Allegiant Stadium, and the Eagles and San Francisco 49ers are 8-1.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
