What’s The Better Bet? Super Bowl Division Or Team Winner?

LAS VEGAS – When it comes to betting on the Super Bowl, sportsbooks flood their offerings allowing action in a variety of methods. However, does one lose out on betting value by changing their stipulations?

While each bet comes with its own terms and merits, understanding when to keep the value versus the terms is crucial. Take the odds on the Super Bowl for every team as well as the Super Bowl winning division odds.

In most cases, it is a better value to just pick a team on the Super Bowl 56 odds list instead of picking which division will win it all.

The NFC West is regarded as the best division in football, with the projected fourth place finisher in the Arizona Cardinals supporting a win total of 8.5 games.

Betting a unit on each team in the NFC West (at $100 units) would knock off $300 in profit if one of the NFC West teams were to win the Super Bowl.

With the LA Rams and SF 49ers sporting a $1300 payout when it’s all said and done, the payout would still be much higher than the +475 odds given on the division.

However, one could argue that the individual bets account for four units, while the division bet only requires one. If we were to make these bets equal, we find that the value does lie in the divisional bet.

1-Unit Bet Payouts On NFC West SB LVI Odds

• LA Rams $1300
• San Francisco 49ers $1300
• Seattle Seahawks $1900
• Arizona Cardinals $3700

With $1900 in the pocket on a successful 4-unit NFC-West division play, only the Arizona Cardinals have better value.

However, as the Cardinals are underdogs to make the playoffs (+155), it is safe to assume the added boost of the Rams and 49ers – as well as the same value on the Seahawks – make up for the potential longshot hit.

Taking The Super Bowl Favorites

Similar merits can be stated for the betting on the Super Bowl favorites in the Kansas City Chiefs (+525) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+600).

With nobody looking for that added insurance of either team’s divisional opponents to win the big game, it seems like a waste to lose the value in lieu of near impossibilities. Aside from the New Orleans Saints (+3500) and LA Chargers (+3500), no other team from the AFC West or NFC South is within the top two half of Super Bowl odds.

With this, bettors actually lose out on a higher payout because if betting on the AFC West, they are most likely only supporting the Chiefs, similar to the NFC South and the Bucs.

Still, we find that a four-unit bet on the division pays out more than betting on all four teams from the same division individually regarding the favorites.

Teams’ Super Bowl Payouts (Individual Vs. Divisional)

• Chiefs ($225 vs $1140)
• Buccaneers ($300 vs $1600)
• Packers ($800 vs $3000)
• Bills ($900 vs $2200)
• Browns ($1100 vs $2200)
• Ravens ($1300 vs $2200)
• Rams ($1300 vs $1900)
• 49ers ($1300 vs $1900)
• Cowboys ($2500 vs $4800)
• Titans ($2500 vs $5600)
• Colts ($3200 vs $5600)
• Washington ($3700 vs $4800)

In short, if one is betting on every team from the same division to win the Super Bowl, these teams are the ones to avoid on the Super Bowl 56 betting board, as a higher value comes from betting their division. However, their odds will always be higher if taken straight up as 1-unit plays on both.

While the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots are the only teams to push value, betting on any specific team’s longshot odds proves to be the better payout in the long run.