By George Glover

The Philadelphia Eagles thrashed the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX -- and while the blowout win sparked mass celebrations in the City of Brotherly Love, it was a less-than-ideal result for U.S. sportsbooks.

An Eagles win was the most popular bet heading into Sunday night's game, according to data from BetMGM, meaning it was in gambling companies' interest for that particular wager not to pay off.

That wasn't the only market that went against the house. The majority of bets were for over 48.5 points being scored in the game -- and that bet was secured late on when the Chiefs scored two late consolation touchdowns.

"The Chiefs winning and the under (48.5) hitting would be the best outcome for the sportsbooks, given the popularity of the Eagles money line," Bank of America analyst Shaun C. Kelley said in a research note published Friday.

Unfortunately for the likes DraftKings and Flutter Entertainment the opposite happened. Sports betting companies will be glad the NFL season is over, given that the dominance of some of the league's strongest teams dented their top lines.

In January, FanDuel owner Flutter cut its fourth-quarter U.S. revenue guidance. It said the 2024 NFL season had been "the most customer-friendly since the launch of online sports betting," with favorites having their highest win rate in nearly two decades.

The consolation for investors is that Americans have gone mad for sports betting in recent years. The American Gaming Association, a trade group representing U.S. casinos, said last week that it expected a record $1.39 billion worth of legal bets to be placed on the Super Bowl.

Sportsbooks also might get a small boost from some of the more unusual bets on Sunday's contest not paying off.

Jon Baptiste's performance of The Star-Spangled Banner lasted 120 seconds, which meant the betting companies narrowly avoided paying out on the popular bet for the national anthem lasting more than 120.5 seconds.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce didn't propose to pop superstar Taylor Swift at the game. BetMGM was offering +800 odds on a Kelce-Swift engagement in some markets, according to Bank of America.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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February 10, 2025 07:37 ET (12:37 GMT)

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