SB Betting Lines Early Years

[Halas Hall]

I was looking at the betting lines for the early Super Bowls and besides the famous line in SB III, there were two that jumped out at me:

1. Vikings favored by 12 points in SB IV in Tulane Stadium - it shows how little respect the AFL received even after the Jets' win the previous year. Maybe I have to read the recent book Last Kings of the Old NFL on the Vikings 1969 season to get a handle on how they were considered such favorites.

2. Miami favored by only one point in SB VII in the L.A. Coliseum - it's crazy to me that a 16-0 team was not favored by more. I suppose the betting public just had a high opinion of George Allen and his Redskins.

Nick

[mwald]

Regarding the second situation, I think you're right about the opinion the public had about George Allen's Redskins. Miami's relatively easy schedule that year also likely played a role.

[mwald]

Since we're on topic, interesting anecdote about Super Bowl XIV:

Bob Martin, the legendary Las Vegas linemaker who was also primarily responsible for setting the 17 point line in SB III, made the Steelers a ten-point favorite over the Rams in Super Bowl XIV. Rams' coach Ray Malavasi was steamed about it, telling the press that the people responsible didn't know what they were talking about.

Martin came back and said, "The public sets it. If I made the line something else, it'd be back to 10 points by tomorrow." Then he added with a wink, "Why don't you ask Malavasi how the Rams are going to score?"

The line closed at 11 points. The Steelers won by 12. Martin, who never heard from Malavasi again, said, "People in gambling know a lot more about football than people in football know about gambling."

[BD Sullivan]

With the first one, the domination the Vikings showed during the year (beating the previous year's NFL Championship teams by an average of 43 points during the regular season) and their near perfect season (two losses came by a last minute loss in the opener and a 10-3 loss in the meaningless season finale) played a role.

[BD Sullivan]

Since we're on topic, interesting anecdote about Super Bowl XIV:

Bob Martin, the legendary Las Vegas linemaker who was also primarily responsible for setting the 17 point line in SB III, made the Steelers a ten-point favorite over the Rams in Super Bowl XIV. Rams' coach Ray Malavasi was steamed about it, telling the press that the people responsible didn't know what they were talking about.

Martin came back and said, "The public sets it. If I made the line something else, it'd be back to 10 points by tomorrow." Then he added with a wink, "Why don't you ask Malavasi how the Rams are going to score?"

The line closed at 11 points. The Steelers won by 12. Martin, who never heard from Malavasi again, said, "People in gambling know a lot more about football than people in football know about gambling."

Though the Steelers didn't cover until late in the game--for most of the contest, they weren't certain of even winning, much less covering.

[mwald]

Since we're on topic, interesting anecdote about Super Bowl XIV:

Bob Martin, the legendary Las Vegas linemaker who was also primarily responsible for setting the 17 point line in SB III, made the Steelers a ten-point favorite over the Rams in Super Bowl XIV. Rams' coach Ray Malavasi was steamed about it, telling the press that the people responsible didn't know what they were talking about.

Martin came back and said, "The public sets it. If I made the line something else, it'd be back to 10 points by tomorrow." Then he added with a wink, "Why don't you ask Malavasi how the Rams are going to score?"

The line closed at 11 points. The Steelers won by 12. Martin, who never heard from Malavasi again, said, "People in gambling know a lot more about football than people in football know about gambling."

Though the Steelers didn't cover until late in the game--for most of the contest, they weren't certain of even winning, much less covering.

Very true. But then again, that's not unusual.

[BD Sullivan]

Since we're on topic, interesting anecdote about Super Bowl XIV:

Bob Martin, the legendary Las Vegas linemaker who was also primarily responsible for setting the 17 point line in SB III, made the Steelers a ten-point favorite over the Rams in Super Bowl XIV. Rams' coach Ray Malavasi was steamed about it, telling the press that the people responsible didn't know what they were talking about.

Martin came back and said, "The public sets it. If I made the line something else, it'd be back to 10 points by tomorrow." Then he added with a wink, "Why don't you ask Malavasi how the Rams are going to score?"

The line closed at 11 points. The Steelers won by 12. Martin, who never heard from Malavasi again, said, "People in gambling know a lot more about football than people in football know about gambling."

Though the Steelers didn't cover until late in the game--for most of the contest, they weren't certain of even winning, much less covering.

Very true. But then again, that's not unusual.

Another spread killer had taken place four years earlier, when Dallas scored on a touchdown pass to cover. Three years later, some people actually won twice, since the Steelers-Cowboys line fluctuated between 3.5 and 4.5, with Dallas once again scoring a late TD in a 35-31 loss that allowed some bettors to win.

[conace21]

I was looking at the betting lines for the early Super Bowls and besides the famous line in SB III, there were two that jumped out at me:

1. Vikings favored by 12 points in SB IV in Tulane Stadium - it shows how little respect the AFL received even after the Jets' win the previous year. Maybe I have to read the recent book Last Kings of the Old NFL on the Vikings 1969 season to get a handle on how they were considered such favorites.

2. Miami favored by only one point in SB VII in the L.A. Coliseum - it's crazy to me that a 16-0 team was not favored by more. I suppose the betting public just had a high opinion of George Allen and his Redskins.

Nick

I recall reading that Washington was actually favored by 1 point over Miami. Wikipedia confirms it (for whatever that's worth. )

[mwald]

Closing lines were less official back then but most outlets had the Redskins favored by two points. I misread Halas Hall's post as asking why the Redskins were favored over a team that went into the game undefeated.

[SixtiesFan]

Closing lines were less official back then but most outlets had the Redskins favored by two points. I misread Halas Hall's post as asking why the Redskins were favored over a team that went into the game undefeated.

To this day, Dolphin players complain about being underdogs in Super Bowl VII despite an undefeated season.