A running back hasn’t been named Super Bowl MVP since 1998.
But bettors are banking on Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley to be the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis did so for Denver in its 31-24 victory over Green Bay in Super Bowl 32.
Barkley is the MVP ticket leader at the Westgate SuperBook and MVP money leader at BetMGM leading into Super Bowl 59, which takes place Feb. 9 in New Orleans.
Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the +120 favorite at the SuperBook to garner Super Bowl MVP honors for the third straight year. Barkley is the +275 second choice and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts is the +325 third pick.
“It would take a ton for one of these three not to win MVP,” SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said.
This year marks the first time since Nevada sportsbooks started taking wagers on Super Bowl MVP in 2016 that the top two favorites are not both quarterbacks.
“That’s highly unusual. Normally, you just default on the two quarterbacks,” Westgate vice president of race and sports John Murray said. “The Eagles don’t ask a ton of Hurts in terms of throwing the football. Even though they do have good receivers, they tend to rely more on their offensive line and their ground game, so it makes sense.
“I expect Barkley to be, for sure, the guy that gets the most MVP tickets.”
Quarterbacks have earned MVP honors in 33 of 58 Super Bowls. Defensive players have won the award in nine Super Bowls, while eight wide receivers and seven running backs have been named MVP.
Return specialist Desmond Howard won the award in the Packers’ 35-21 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl 31.
“I don’t see another scenario with the Chiefs with someone winning MVP outside of Mahomes,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “Unless the score ends 9-6 with three Harrison Butker field goals, which is highly unlikely.”
The latter scenario would deal a major blow to sportsbooks, which would suffer significant losses if Butker became the first kicker named Super Bowl MVP. Butker, a 200-1 long shot, is the early MVP money leader at the Westgate and the second-largest liability at Caesars for that market.
“People never stop with these kickers,” Salmons said. “At 200-1, they can’t get enough.”
Hurts almost certainly would have been named MVP of Super Bowl 57 had the Eagles defeated the Chiefs. He threw for 304 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 70 yards and three touchdowns in Philadelphia’s 38-35 loss.
“In the Eagles’ case, it’s really a two-man race if Hurts duplicates what he did the last time these two teams met in the Super Bowl,” Esposito said. “Or it could be Barkley if he does have multiple touchdowns that are long runs, or if he has 170 yards rushing in a closer, lower-scoring game.
“You would have to give Barkley a lot of consideration with how hot he’s been so far in the postseason.”
Major wagers
A tight end has never been named Super Bowl MVP. But that hasn’t stopped bettors from backing Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, who is third in tickets at the Westgate. A BetMGM bettor wagered $25,000 to win $375,000 on Kelce to win MVP at 15-1.
A Caesars bettor wagered $20,000 to win $22,000 on Mahomes (+110) to win again.
“Once the public really starts betting on the MVP, they’re going to start looking down the board and they’re going to take longer shots,” Murray said. “My guess is we’ll probably end up doing very well in that pool if Mahomes does win the MVP.
“The public doesn’t want to bet him at +120. They’re going to bet someone like (Eagles defensive tackle) Jalen Carter or (Chiefs defensive tackle) Chris Jones or (Kansas City wide receiver) Xavier Worthy. Players with longer odds that they’ve heard of.”
Worthy is 30-1 to win MVP, while Carter and Jones are each 80-1.
Caesars took a $275 bet to win $110,000 on Philadelphia safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to win MVP at 400-1. He is the largest liability in the market for Caesars, which also took a $250 wager to win $125,000 on Eagles cornerback Darius Slay at 500-1.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at [email protected]. Follow @tdewey33 on X.
