Steelers Home Field Advantage Not a Factor for Oddsmakers
One of the big questions heading into Sunday's Super Bowl game between the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers was whether home field advantage would provide an edge to the Steelers. No, the 2009 Super Bowl is not being played in Pittsburgh. It's being played in Tampa Bay. But reports have Steelers fans heading down to Tampa en masse.
The presence of the Steelers fans in Florida is being felt not just in the city of Tampa, but also by the teams and their coaches, according to a report filed by KDKA out of Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have the most loyal fan base of any in the National Football League.
"Steelers Nation, they drive me on a day-to-day basis," said Pittsburgh Coach Mike Tomlin. "They're why it is we do what we do."
Arizona Coach Ken Whisenhunt seemed to understand the Steelers magic that will be felt in Tampa Sunday.
"I know what kind of group of fans that is and how they travel," he said. "And we're preparing with that in mind."
But the oddsmakers haven't gotten the memo.
Typically a home field advantage entails anywhere from 2 ½ to 3 extra points. Online oddsmakers at Bookmaker.com have created a line that is deemed by math formulas as fully accurate....based on a neutral field. Bookmaker.com is offering the Steelers at -6 ½ while the actual line based on team rankings formulas comes out to around 6.40.
"The oddsmakers aren't going to move the line over Steelers -7 as they will lose if Pittsburgh wins by a touchdown," explains Don Shapiro, sports columnist for the Gambling911.com website. "And you certainly won't see a sportsbook that has a line of Steelers -6 ½ move it to -7 ½. That would be like attempted suicide. A touchdown win by Pittsburgh would mean gamblers get payouts for both sides if they have Arizona at +7 ½ and Pittsburgh at -6 ½."
The Cardinals are getting slightly more betting action where the line is at +7 while the Steelers are getting more action with the -6 ½ line (Bookmaker.com is a fine example of this trend).
The bookies want a Steelers cover though since nearly 80 percent of money line action (paying $200 for every $100 bet) is going Arizona's way. They would have to win outright.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
