49ers once were top favorites for Super Bowl

It was far from the greatest Super Bowl ever played, but it’s one of the most memorable from a betting perspective. The San Francisco 49ers, led by quarterback Steve Young, rolled in as dominant favorites.

In fact, no team in the game’s 47-year history has closed as a bigger favorite. The 49ers were laying 18½ points to the San Diego Chargers at kickoff of Super Bowl XXIX on Jan. 29, 1995, in Miami. The line briefly peaked at 20.

"That’s when the 49ers were riding high," said Jimmy Vaccaro, director of public relations for William Hill sports books. "I didn’t think they were going to lose."

The outcome never was in doubt. Young passed for six touchdowns, three to Jerry Rice, as San Francisco crushed the Chargers, 49-26. It was the 49ers’ fifth Super Bowl title, and it allowed Young to emerge from Joe Montana’s shadow.

There was action on the underdog. Vaccaro said San Francisco opened at minus-800 on the money line, but a flood of money from San Diego fans – including a few six-figure wagers – drove the price down to around minus-360 by the weekend of the game.

"We were getting so much money on the Chargers money line. That was the most unbelievable thing I’ve seen," Vaccaro said.

The 49ers are back in the Super Bowl after a long disappearing act, and now Colin Kaepernick is the quarterback trying to repeat the feats of Montana and Young. San Francisco is a 3½- to 4-point favorite over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday in New Orleans.

Baltimore made its own bit of unforgettable history in Super Bowl III in 1969, when the Colts closed as 18-point favorites over the New York Jets. Vaccaro said the line hit as high as 19. Joe Namath guaranteed an upset, and he delivered a stunning win for the Jets, 16-7.

According to closing numbers recorded by VegasInsider.com, Super Bowl favorites are 33-13 straight up and 26-18-2 against the spread.

Vaccaro moved to Las Vegas in January 1975 and spent three decades as a bookmaker. He said betting action on the title game started to take off by Super Bowl XVI in 1982, when San Francisco beat Cincinnati 26-21 as a 1-point favorite.

"You could see that the (wagering) numbers every year kept going higher," said Vaccaro, who witnessed the expansion of Super Bowl parties at Strip hotels and the growing popularity of proposition bets. "You knew we had something going."

Contact sports betting columnist Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907. He co-hosts "The Las Vegas Sportsline" weekdays at 2 p.m. on ESPN Radio (1100 AM, 98.9 FM). Follow him on Twitter: @mattyoumans247.