If you can think of a situation to wager on during the Super Bowl, it is probably offered as a bet. The busiest sports betting day of the year has dozens of bets with hundreds of ways to predict specific player, team and game outcomes.
With the mainstream hypnotized on the heavy point spread movement of the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks opening line, don’t sleep on the fascinating exotic props where some odds offer rewarding benefits if the predictions become a reality.
The bet on who will win the MVP is one of them.
One of the first special bets to be released by sportsbooks was the prop of which player will take home the Super Bowl XLIX MVP award. The first step in making an educated a pick is deciding which team you think will win because in the history of the MVP the award has gone to a player on the winning team all but one time.
Who was the losing team MVP?
Chuck Howley of the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V when the Baltimore Colts won their first and only Super Bowl by the score of 16-13.
It makes sense that the favorite to win this season’s MVP is Tom Brady because after all, the Patriots are now the 1-point favorite. Brady’s odds to win the award are +150. He is on top of the list because he is playing in his sixth Super Bowl. He also has history on his side. He is only one of four players to win it twice and a third would tie him with only Joe Montana on the all-time list.
Quarterbacks have won the award 26 out of 49 times. That’s way more than any other position. The next most are running backs with seven. So like Brady, Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson has this statistic in his favor. The 26-year old has +350 odds and is a legitimate contender to lead his team to back-to-back titles.
Even though Marshawn Lynch isn’t a quarterback he proved in the NFC Championship game that he is ready to carry the load. He proved that if his quarterback is struggling they can rely on him. Lynch’s odds are +325.
After the three top favorites, Brady (+150), Lynch (+325) and Wilson (+350), the odds really open up. Rob Gronkowski is +900 and could have a big day against a Seahawks defense that isn’t the strongest at defending tight ends. This season, 11 of the 17 passing touchdowns that Seattle allowed were to tight ends.
Tradition can always get thrown out the window and potentially anyone can step up to have a monster game. Look at last season when Malcolm Smith became the first defensive player since 2003 and only third linebacker to ever win the award. A bet on Smith equated to +2000 because he wasn’t listed as an individual odd, only part of the “field” wager.
If a Seahawks defender can duplicate the game that Smith had last Super Bowl, they would be paying off handsomely as well. The leading Legion of Boom candidates are Richard Sherman (+2500), Kam Chancellor (+3300), Earl Thomas (+4000), Bobby Wagner (+5000) and Byron Maxwell (+6500). A repeat from Smith truly defies the odds and pays out +15000.
Anyone can step up and this is what makes the MVP betting prop so alluring.
And if the choices are too hard to decide you can always take a shot at the straightforward 50/50 coin toss.
