Caesar's Better Bettor: 49ers favored to win next year's Super Bowl, Chiefs are 2nd choice (2024)

The Super Bowl is only a few days in the rearview mirror, but odds to win next year’s NFL championship already are posted and this year’s Big Game participants are favored to win their conference titles again and have a return engagement next February in New Orleans.

But the odds at all three of the St. Louis area’s sportsbooks favor an opposite outcome next time: San Francisco has the lowest price at each of those shops.

DraftKings (Casino Queen in East St. Louis) has the 49ers, who lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22 in overtime this year, at 5½-1 odds to prevail next time. KC has the next-lowest return, 6½-1.

It’s a similar story at FanDuel (horse track in Collinsville), where the payout on the Chiefs also is 6½-1 but the price on the 49ers (5-1) is a tad lower than in East St. Louis.

Up in Alton, Argosy casino lists San Francisco at 5-1 but has the best Chiefs return among the area books — 7-1.

The longest shot on the board is the Carolina Panthers, who went 2-15 this season and are 250-1 at DraftKings and FanDuel to win next year’s title. Interestingly, that was the price on the Rams at some Las Vegas sportsbooks in the summer of 1999, before they stormed on their storybook run to win the crown after being 4-12 the previous year.

Betting bonanza

Despite the football season is over, sportsbooks are offering a lot of wagers in addition to which team will win next season’s title.

DraftKings has the biggest buffet of options among the area shops, including odds on which team several marquee players who could be on the move will take their first snap with this coming season.

Chiefs standout defensive tackle Chris Jones is eligible for free agency and an expected huge payday, but at the team’s Super Bowl rally this week he proclaimed that he’ll be returning to Kansas City.

“I need three of those things, baby!” Jones said of adding another Super Bowl championship ring. “We ain’t done yet. We ain’t done yet. Kansas City, we will be back here next year. And for those who want Chris Jones gone, I ain’t going nowhere, baby! I’m going to be here this year, next year, and the year after.”

Maybe he was just caught up in the euphoria of the moment, speaking to the huge crowd before the shooting tragedy took place after the rally ended. And his agent, Michael J. Katz, had a humorous comment about Jones hurting his negotiating leverage.

“Cut them off bartenders!!!!” he wrote on X. “Too much.”

DraftKings has Jones’ odds of playing his first NFL game next season for the Chiefs at -225, meaning a bettor would have to risk $225 to try to win $100.

Quarterback Russel Wilson is the odds-on favorite to be with Pittsburgh (-110). That’s followed by Denver, which benched him at the end of last season (3.2-1). New England and Atlanta are next, at 4½-1.

Pittsburgh also is favored as the landing spot for another quarterback, Justin Fields, at -130. The price on him returning to Chicago is 3-1, while the odds on him being with Atlanta are 4½-1 and it’s 5-1 for New England.

Running back Saquon Barkley is a heavy favorite (-150) to return to the New York Giants, with the next-lowest price (2¾-1) being on Houston, followed by the Los Angeles Chargers (4-1) and Chicago (16-1).

Two-time NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry is favored to end up with the run-loving Baltimore Ravens (2-1 odds), followed by Philadelphia (5-1), Dallas (5½-1) and Houston (7½-1). He’s 10-1 to be back with Tennessee, the same price of him being with the LA Chargers or Green Bay.

M-V-P!, M-V-P!

Fans like to chant ‘M-V-P!, M-V-P!’ for a favorite player they think is worthy of being named his or her league’s most valuable player, and the books have odds on who will be next season’s winner in the NFL. Of course, it’s a quarterback-heavy list because QBs have won the last 11 awards and 16 of 17.

Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, who has received the trophy twice but had an off year by his lofty standards despite leading the Chiefs to the league championship, is favored at all the local shops to bounce back and gain MVP honors again.

Argosy has him at 6½-1, followed by the Bengals’ Joe Burrow and Bills’ Josh Allen (both 8-1) and this year’s winner, the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson (12-1).

FanDuel has the same prices for Mahomes and Allen to lead its list, but has Burrow at 10-1 followed by the Texans’ C.J. Stroud (11-1). Jackson is the fifth choice, at 12-1.

DraftKings has the shortest price among the area books on Mahomes (6-1), followed by Allen (7-1), Burrow (9-1) and Jackson (10-1).

Baskets galore?

The NFL’s Pro Bowl became such a joke because players decided to stop tackling (NFC 66, AFC 57 in 2022), that game was reduced to a touch football contest after that one.

The NBA still has a “game,” though defense also has become just about nonexistent. Last year’s score was Team Giannis 184, Team LeBron 175 after the previous season being Team LeBron 163, Team Durant 160.

The league is back to its more familiar East vs. West format fort this year’s game, on Sunday night in Indianapolis.

As of Friday afternoon, FanDuel was the only area house to have posted an over/under bet on the game (number of points the teams will combine to score). Its customers could wager either over or under 364½.