Sports betting has been getting increasingly hotter in the US ever since its legalization in 2018. As of the end of 2022, the total sportsbook revenue hit $7.5 billion, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA), and it has only kept growing in popularity in 2023.
This ever-increasing revenue is not just because over 39 million Americans partake in this hobby; big-money bets also get even more frequent and sizable every year. In addition, with the NFL being the most popular sport in the US, it is not surprising that betting on football matches is a huge part of this uptick, even though many other sports are safer and more lucrative to bet on.
To give you an idea of exactly how significant NFL sports betting is, let’s take a look at the five biggest NFL bets of all time as of the end of 2023.
5. $1.68 Million on the Chiefs at DraftKings
We will start with a bet made during the LVII Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. The bet, made at DraftKings, was for $1.68 million on a Chiefs win at +3.5 (-168). As the Chiefs won the hotly contested match 38 to 35, the lucky bettor came home with an extra $1 million in the bank. While this certainly sounds exciting, this is not the highest NFL bet ever – it isn’t even the highest bet made on that game, as the LVII Super Bowl was especially exciting for bettors and saw numerous bets in the six and seven figures.
4. $2.2 Million on the Eagles at Caesars Sportsbook
The biggest bet for the Super Bowl LVII was made through Caesars Sportsbook for $2.2 million on an Eagles win at -1½ over the Chiefs. The bet would have earned the anonymous bettor $2 million had the Eagles won, but they didn’t. The game saw many other seven-figure and six-figure bets as well, not only at Caesars Sportsbook but also at BetMGM, DraftKings, and others. These included a $1.25 million bet on the Eagles through BetMGM, two $1 million bets on the Eagles through FanDuel and BetMGM, an $880,000 bet on the Chiefs at Caesars, an $870,000 bet on the Chiefs at BetMGM, and a $55,000 bet on Over 51 at Caesars.
Overall, most of the big-money bets on this year’s Super Bowl were for an Eagles win, which left quite a few people disappointed.
3. $2.3 Million on the Buccaneers at BetMGM
The next major bet on our list was placed on the Super Bowl LV match between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The bettor was anonymous, but it’s known that the bet was for $2.3 million through BetMGM on a Buccaneers victory. What is also known is that the anonymous bettor became richer by about $2 million after Tom Brady’s Buccaneers blew the Chiefs away 31 to 9.
2. $3.46 Million on Buccaneers at DraftKings
An even larger bet was made on that same Super Bowl LV game between the Chiefs and the Buccaneers. The bet was made through DraftKings for $3.46 million in favor of a Buccaneers victory. The bettor was a Texas businessman by the name of Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale.
As the Buccaneers were indeed victorious, Jim McIngvale ended up winning $2.75 million. What’s more, the businessman had also offered full refunds to anyone who spent more than $3,000 at his store if the Buccaneers won, turning his sports bet into a marketing move.
1. $4.5 and $5 Million on the Bengals at Caesars Sportsbook
Even though smaller games have the most lucrative odds, it is always the biggest games that attract the biggest bets. The #1 bet on our list is no exception, as it was placed during the Super Bowl LVI on a win for the Cincinnati Bengals. The bet for a staggering $5 million was placed through Caesars Sportsbook by the same Texas businessman mentioned above – “Mattress Mack.”
What is even more astonishing, however, is that the second-highest NFL bet in history was made for $4.5 million on that same game, for the same team, and by the same person – Mattress Mack. In other words, if we count the two bets as one, the highest bet would have been $9.5 million!
The total winnings Mack was looking at were $16.2 million, as he made those bets when the Bengals were seen as +170 underdogs. Unfortunately for Mack, the Rams beat the Bengals, and the Texan lost $9.5 million that day.
Conclusion
As we can see from these examples, betting on the NFL (and especially on the biggest Super Bowl matches) is a volatile endeavor. Just like in the game itself, the wins are spectacular and lucrative, but the losses are equally memorable and costly. That is why people who are serious about profiting off sports betting know it’s usually safer to bet on smaller games and other sports such as tennis, golf, baseball, horseracing, or soccer.
But if profits are your main objective, there are many other forms of online gambling and games that an analysis of game-specific bonuses will help you narrow down. If you want to stick to sports betting, however, remember this rule of thumb: big games are for fun, and small games are for profit.