Oddsmakers have set their favorites to win this year’s Super Bowl, which is Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Caiifornia, and there are no surprises. The Green Bay Packers, with quarterback Aaron Rodgers enjoying a renaissance, are at +375. Then there’s the Kansas City Chiefs, at +500.
Next in line? Your Buffalo Bills, at +750. The Bills are a “semi-home” team for Ontario sports betting and have proven popular for province bettors.
First up for the Bills is this Saturday’s Wild Card game at Orchard Park against the New England Patriots. The Bills finished the regular season with the No. 1 defence in the NFL. So it’s no surprise then that defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is said to be a head coaching candidate for teams in the league looking to fill vacancies.
Same for Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, whose QB Josh Allen finished the season with 4,407 yards passing (8th in the league). The Bills were fifth in total offense. The Miami Dolphins are rumored to be interested in Daboll.
Bills Are Popular on PROLINE+
If PROLINE+ wagering stats are any indication, that Patriots game is going to generate a lot of action for OLG. And for FanDuel in the U.S. as well – the team and sports tech entertainment company announced a multi-year partnership last week, designating FanDuel as the official mobile sports betting partner of the Bills.
FanDuel Sportsbook Ontario is expected to be one of the top online sportsbooks available when the full market launches in Ontario.
According to the OLG, the Bills have been involved in four of the top 15 grossing events since the launch of PROLINE+ last August — including two of the top three. They’ve drawn “above-average revenue” in and out of primetime time slots.
Call it a semi-home market advantage.
Strong Holiday Action
Also, according to OLG, despite numerous postponements related to COVID-19, such as hockey’s World Junior Championships, digital sports sales were “robust” over the holidays, posting “record revenue” in American football and basketball, according to a source there.
The top revenue games of Christmas week were the primetime NFL matchups on Sunday and Monday nights, as well as the two special Saturday contests. The remaining top 15 events of the week consisted of the annually anticipated college football bowl games, as well as a couple of non-primetime NFL matchups that included favoured teams — Pittsburgh/KC and Buffalo/New England.
The OLG says plans are in the works to take advantage of Super Bowl betting, plus the fact it is currently the only game in town for legal sports betting in the province.
OLG officials will release more Super Bowl specifics closer to the game, but look for a variety of props, including player props, in-play wagering, and a variety of pregame wagers.
A launch date for Ontario sports betting apps is still unclear.
