Super Bowl point spread takes a beating

Jan 21, 2008 / By Nick Bailey

Bettors have laid a beating on the early line for Super Bowl XLII, with the point-spread dropping from 14 to 12 – and as low as 11½ – at most offshore sportsbooks on Monday.

The New York Giants upset the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday night to advance to the 2008 Super Bowl against the undefeated New England Patriots.

Moments after New York kicker Lawrence Tynes booted the game-winning field goal Sunday, the Las Vegas line had the Patriots as 14-point favorites for Super Bowl 42 on Feb. 3 at the University of Phoenix stadium.

But by about 1 pm ET Monday, several sportsbooks began chopping that number down, as more than 60 per cent of football bettors were taking advantage of the big spread and betting the Giants would beat it.

Online sportsbooks, like BodogLife and Bet Jamaica, have dropped the spread to 12. And SBG Global cut it all the way to 11½ on Monday.

The Vegas line remained at 14 as of late Monday afternoon.

The action on New York has much to do with the fact that New England, despite being 18-0 SU, has now failed to cover the spread in eight of their past nine games, including Sunday’s 21-12 win as a 14-point favorites against the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship Game.

The Giants beat Green Bay 23-20 in overtime as a 7-point underdog in the NFC Championship Game.

The Giants and Patriots squared off in Week 17, a game in which New York led in the fourth quarter, but ended up losing 38-35.

Chuck Esposito, Caesars Palace's assistant vice president of race and sports book operations, said that game is also playing a big role in today’s line moves.

"The Giants played right with them for the majority of the game," Esposito told the Associated Press. "And there will be another Manning (New York quarterback Eli Manning) in the Big Game."

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