Mixed Bag On Championship Sunday

It certainly helps sports books when underdogs win outright and that’s exactly what happened in the AFC Championship game on Sunday. After falling behind 21-3, the seven-point underdog Bengals rallied to beat the Chiefs 24-21 in overtime.

“It was a very solid day for us as most could imagine,” said SuperBook Sports Executive Vice President of Operations Jay Kornegay. “Any time you have a team like the Chiefs losing at home to an up-and-coming team you’re going to have positive results.”

However, the NFC Championship didn’t bring as good of news for SuperBook as the Rams rallied to push as three-point favorites.

“The Rams winning by exactly three wasn’t ideal for us,” Kornegay said. “During the course of the week we were on and off three which is never a good thing for a book maker. Overall we had a positive day but a little disappointing when we gave half that game’s winnings back by the Rams winning exactly by three.”

Rams Are Super Favorites

After a spirited discussion on Sunday night, SuperBook Sports currently has the Rams as a four-point favorite in Super Bowl XVI. The game’s total is currently set at 48.5.

“We opened three and a half and fifty and a half,” Kornegay said. “The spread went up just a tad after posting it but in less than 48 hours the total has dropped two points.”

Kornegay believes the Rams are from the tougher conference.

“I thought the NFC was better than the AFC in the second half of the season,” he said. “The NFC has physical and dominant defenses so we tend to like that more.”

Home Field Advantage?

For the first 54 Super Bowls, the game was never played in the home stadium of one of the participating teams. On February 13 it will happen for the second straight season when the Rams take the field at SoFi Stadium.

Kornegay said the line moved by one point in the Rams’ direction because of the home field advantage.

“There are a lot of different opinions on home field advantage,” Kornegay said. “I think there’s a benefit to sleeping in your own bed and being in familiar surroundings.”

Packed Day At SuperBook Las Vegas

SuperBook Sports at the Westgate in Las Vegas is the largest sports book in the world and was predictably packed for championship Sunday. For the last time this season there were multiple games in one day so seats were hard to come by.

“Those championship games really sell themselves just like the Super Bowl,” Kornegay said. “It’s a two for one special. As we know the NFL playoffs have been terrific throughout and the championship games didn’t disappoint.”

Too Early For Big Bets

With the Super Bowl still 13 days away, most big money gamblers choose to wait and see where the line settles instead of taking advantage of the early line.

“It’s way too early for any big bets,” Kornegay said. “Although I heard a rumor around town of a five figure bet on the Bengals, we haven’t seen anything that large yet. It settles down for ten days then the action picks up in the last few days before the game.”

Big Week For Super Props

On Thursday night at 7 pm Pacific time, SuperBook Sports will unveil its Super Bowl prop bets. In the past, SuperBook has offered around 500 different prop bets and Kornegay expects that number to be around the same this year. The props will only be offered at the ticket counter in Las Vegas until Friday morning. At that point they will be live on the SuperBook Sports app in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Jersey.

Kornegay and his team of odds makers have been working on the prop bets for weeks.

“It’s really fun after they’re posted,” Kornegay said of the props. “It’s a team effort. We have a lot of guys contributing to this effort.”

For live coverage and immediate reaction of the Super Bowl prop unveiling tune into the SuperBook Sports social media platforms Thursday night and all weekend long.