Sports betting: SugarHouse briefly opens Rams as Super Bowl favorites over Patriots, line flips within minutes
The first Super Bowl since sports betting became legal in Philadelphia opened with a razor-thin line. Started with the Rams laying points, but went the other way. Likely will bounce around leading up to the Feb. 3 game.
It didn’t take long for the Super Bowl action to flip at the SugarHouse, which opened the Rams as a slight favorite before immediately making New England -1. At the time of this writing, the Patriots moved up to 1.5.
The first Super Bowl in the era of legalized sports betting in Philadelphia figures to create plenty of action for bettors impressed by the Rams' win in New Orleans, and the Patriots' stirring victory in Kansas City. Both conference championships went to overtime, the first time in NFL history that’s happened.
The line will almost surely move in the two weeks leading up to Super Bowl 53, which is in Atlanta on Sunday, Feb. 3. New England and the Rams have not played since Sean McVay became L.A.'s head coach prior to the start of the 2017 season.
Web sites: SugarHouse | Parx
The over-under opened at 57.5, but was up to 59 less than 20 minutes after New England scored in overtime to beat the Chiefs to end Andy Reid’s chance of finally getting his Super Bowl ring as a head coach. There’s always next year for the former Eagles coach.
New England is playing in its ninth Super Bowl in the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady era. They were four-point favorites in last season’s loss to the Eagles. Overall, they are 5-3 straight-up, 3-5 against the spread in Super Bowls since the 2001 season.
The Rams (15-3) are 9-7-2 this season and have covered their last four. New England (13-5) is 11-7 against the number.