The Super Bowl remains the number-one sports betting event in the US as FanDuel, the largest US sportsbook operator, revealed that fans have wagered more than 16.6 million bets.
According to FanDuel, the bets were placed by nearly 3 million accounts registered with the leading sportsbook, with the operator reporting that its platform has received more than 70.000 bets per minute at some point during the game.
From here, FanDuel states that most fans expected a high-scoring game, and this can be seen in the 83% of bettors picking “Over” on the 48.5-point total ahead of kick-off. Yet, the final score of 40-22 in favour of the Philadelphia Eagles shows that the most popular bets on FanDuel weren’t actually correct.
As the sportsbook revealed, the most frequently placed exact score bets during the Super Bowl were Chiefs 27 – Eagles 24 and Chiefs 38 – Eagles 35. Fans clearly believed that the Chiefs would take another final from the Eagles and mark its record-breaking 3rd Super Bowl win in a row, something that didn’t happen at the end.
When it comes to individual bets, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was the number one pick to become MVP based on handle and total bets. Moreover, Barkley was the most frequently wagered “anytime touchdown scorer”, and was part of an eight-leg same-game parlay that helped one FanDuel win $7,612.63 with a $10 bet.
In addition to the Super Bowl game, FanDuel users have also wagered on “Kick of Destiny 3”, a one-versus-one competition between Eli and Peyton Manning where the two NFL legends and brother compete against each other during the pregame show of the Super Bowl.
This year, the winning kick was made by the younger brother Eli Manning. More than two million FanDuel users have placed a wager on this friendly competition, with the total amount of bets placed on Eli and Payton reaching a little over one million bets per brother.
FanDuel customers had the option to make a free pick, with those who decided to bet on Eli Manning receiving a 10$ bonus bet from the $10 million prize pool.
