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With less than 10 percent of the online sportsbooks offering the Steelers Super Bowl line at -6 ½ earlier in the week, nearly half the books returned to this opening line by Saturday morning.
"This suggests that even more betting action was going towards the Arizona Cardinals," expressed Don Shapiro of Gambling911.com.
Sports Interaction (which allows US bettors) and Sportingbet.com (a book that takes bets worldwide from those not living in the U.S.) were the latest to move their Super Bowl line down to -6 ½.
"These books are looking to get more action on the Steelers," Shapiro explains.
55 percent of the betting public had money on the Arizona Cardinals. A Steelers cover would mean a small profit for the online sportsbooks, which will also win overall with the prop bets.
"The sportsbooks focus will be on the actual Super Bowl game line between Arizona and Pittsburgh," Shapiro says. "Not so much the props because most of these will be bet by novices and there are so many offerings that the general public cannot win overall."
A Pittsburgh Cover is important. A Pittsburgh win outright is even more so.
Nearly 90 percent of the money line action was going Arizona's way. The money line requires Arizona to win outright and would pay $200 for every $100 bet. Both Sports Interaction and Sportingbet.com featured money lines.
"This would be bad for the sportsbooks if Arizona were to win outright," Shapiro stated. "A little pain if the Cardinals cover, agony if they beat the Steelers."
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
