Super Bowl 50 is only a few days away, and the spread for the game appears to have settled down for the most part. The line opened with the Carolina Panthers as 3.5-point favorites. Money quickly poured in on the Panthers following their thorough beating of the Arizona Cardinals, and the line climbed as high as six points. Some sportsbooks have seen some money on the Denver Broncos and brought it back down to 5.5 points, but it is holding steady otherwise.
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In setting the point spread, sportsbooks are not making predictions that the Panthers will win by at least six points. Rather, it is set based on what will get the most even amount of money bet on the game. If 50 percent of the money is on the Panthers and 50 percent is on the Broncos, then the house is guaranteed to win because of their cut of all wagers.
For much of the past week and a half, money has been rolling in on the Panthers; as much as 70-to-80 percent of the public wagering has been on Carolina. Bovada.lv sportsbook manager Kevin Bradley indicated even with this money, the line is not expected to climb to the full touchdown figure. Assuming it stays under a touchdown, sportsbooks are significant Broncos favorites at the moment.
"We are still holding the line with the Panthers as 6 point favorites and continue to see constant money for them. It would be hard to justify moving it to 7, but either way it looks like we will need Denver pretty big come Sunday.
"Even though the Panthers are not considered a heavily backed public team during the season, it looks like our bettors believe that even Denver's defense cannot stop them at this point."
The line could still move back down at least a little bit. More experienced gamblers, called sharp bettors, often wait until late in the week to make their move. They are shopping for the best number, and also waiting for any pertinent information on the final injury report. A late surge of some sharp money could potentially bring Bovada's line down, even in the face of heavy public pressure.
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