The 2021 NFL Season is less than six months away from beginning and sports bettors are already excited to get in on the betting action.
Betting on the Super Bowl winner is one of the more exciting future markets available. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers just won Super Bowl 55 back in February. While they have some of the highest Super Bowl odds (+600), they’re not the favorites to win it all this year.
That honor goes to the team that they beat to win Super Bowl 55: the Kansas City Chiefs.
As of April 2, Bovada is listing the Chiefs as the +500 favorites to win Super Bowl 56. When you have a team as good as theirs, led by Patrick Mahomes, it’s hard not to like their odds.
However, no matter how good a team’s Super Bowl odds are, they aren’t guaranteed to win the championship. Below are the odds for each of the 32 NFL teams according to Bovada.
Super Bowl 56 Odds
Odds via Bovada as of Friday, April 2
- Kansas City Chiefs +500
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers +600
- Green Bay Packers +1200
- Los Angeles Rams +1200
- Buffalo Bills +1400
- San Francisco 49ers +1400
- Cleveland Browns +1600
- Baltimore Ravens +1800
- Indianapolis Colts +2400
- New England Patriots +2500
- Seattle Seahawks +2500
- New Orleans Saints +2800
- Arizona Cardinals +3000
- Dallas Cowboys +3000
- Los Angeles Chargers +3300
- Miami Dolphins +3300
- Pittsburgh Steelers +3500
- Tennessee Titans +3500
- Minnesota Vikings +5000
- Washington Football Team +5500
- Carolina Panthers +6600
- Chicago Bears +6600
- Denver Broncos +6600
- Las Vegas Raiders +7000
- New York Giants +7500
- Atlanta Falcons +8000
- Philadelphia Eagles +8000
- Cincinnati Bengals +12500
- Jacksonville Jaguars +12500
- New York Jets +12500
- Detroit Lions +15000
- Houston Texans +15000
Kansas City Chiefs Hold Top Odds
As mentioned, it’s hard to argue against the Chiefs’ odds of winning the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. Mahomes is arguable the best quarterback in the game and Kansas City continues to surround him with weapons like Tyreek Hill and Clyde Edwards-Helaire to compliment his talents.
The truth is that the Chiefs don’t have a lot of competition in the AFC. Out of teams with good Super Bowl 56 odds, the Buffalo Bills (+1400) are the next closest AFC team to the Chiefs. With all due respect to teams like the Bills, Cleveland Browns (+1600) and Baltimore Ravens (+1800), Kansas City is far more complete in every area. It’s going to take a team to step up big time to prevent them from making another Super Bowl.
Rams Have Good Odds to Win Super Bowl 56
The Los Angeles Rams (+1200) finished the 2020 NFL Season with a 10-6 record, making it to the NFC Divisional Game where they lost 32-18 to the Green Bay Packers. After making it to the Super Bowl in 2018, the Rams needed to figure out a way to increase their odds of winning a championship. During the offseason, they went out and acquired Matthew Stafford from the Detroit Lions in exchange for Jared Goff, two first-round picks and a third-rounder as well.
The truth is that, as loyal as Goff was to the Rams, Stafford immediately upgrades their team. In 15 games that he appeared in for the Rams in 2020, Goff threw for 3,952 yards, 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Meanwhile, Stafford, who was on a much worse roster in Detroit, tallied 4,084 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. If he can do that on a team as bad as the Lions were, there’s no telling what Stafford will accomplish in 2021 with the Rams.
Are the Bills Still Super Bowl Contenders?
One of the biggest surprises of the 2020 NFL Season was the jump that the Buffalo Bills (+1400) took from potential playoff team to Super Bowl contenders. They made it to the AFC Championship Game but finished one win shy of playing for Super Bowl 55. Stefon Diggs looked great in his first season with the Bills, catching 127 passes for 1,535 yards and 8 touchdowns.
The Bills went out and signed Emmanuel Sanders and Jacob Hollister to provide more pass-catching options for Josh Allen. Buffalo also brought back most of their important free agents, so the team could potentially see similar success as they saw less season with the AFC not being as competitive as it used to be.
Can the Buccaneers Repeat as Super Bowl Champions?
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have +600 odds of becoming the first back-to-back Super Bowl Champions since… Tom Brady did it with the New England Patriots in 2004 and 2005. The Buccaneers managed to bring back most of their bigger free agents, aside from Antonio Brown. With the salary cap not growing as much due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have also been rumors that NFL players could come to Tampa on a cheaper contract to have a better chance at winning a Super Bowl.
If the Buccaneers do bring in good players on cheap contracts to bolster an already stacked roster, the Buccaneers’ odds of repeating as Super Bowl champs could increase.
Betting on Super Bowl 56 and NFL Futures
Betting on any Super Bowl or NFL futures can add excitement to any sports fan’s life. However, if you want to participate in the fun, you need to sign up for a sportsbook of your choosing. With the rate that sports betting is growing around North America, there’s an option for everybody.
If you’re new to betting on football or sports in general, here are some of the markets and terms you’ll probably run into:
- Moneyline: Choosing the outright winner of a game.
- Over/Under: A sportsbook will provide you with a combined point total between two teams for a contest. You then choose if the teams will score more (Over) or fewer (Under) points than the given total.
- Point spread: Point spread markets are extremely popular in football betting. A sportsbook will provide you with a number of points that a team has to win by. If you think they will win by that amount, you’re saying that they’ll “cover the spread.”
- Prop bets: Also known as “propositions,” prop bets offer bettors a variety of markets that can be more unique or fun than regular game lines.
- Futures: Choosing the winner of Super Bowl 56 is an example of a future bet. These bets are always made in advance, whether that’s three days or three months before the event happens.
All bets come with lines that indicate how much money you can win. A line with a positive (+) sign tells you how much money you’ll win if you wager $100.
- Ex: +450 odds means you’ll win $450 if you wager $100.
Meanwhile, a negative (-) sign indicates how much you need to spend to win $100.
- Ex: -225 odds means you have to bet $225 to win $100.
NFL Futures
Whenever you bet on NFL futures, it’s important to know that the odds can change. Super Bowl 56 is around 10 months away, meaning injuries, trades and signings can impact the odds from now until then. That’s why it’s important to research whichever team you’re thinking of putting money down. You want to analyze trends, as well as anything else that could be a cause for concern. Research may take some extra time, but even experts do it to maximize their chances of winning big!
Sports betting can be a lot of fun, but it’s easy to get carried away. Whether it’s your first or 50th time wagering on NFL action, remember to go in with a financial plan. If you’re a beginner, $50-$100 isn’t a bad starting point. Remember, only wager what you’re willing to lose. No bet is ever a guarantee.