The Atlanta Falcons will be underdogs in Sunday’s Super Bowl LI against the New England Patriots, but one bettor is putting over $1 million worth of faith in the NFC champions.
According to ESPN.com’s David Purdum, CG Technology took the bet Friday on the Falcons to cover the three-point spread.
The anonymous bettor is risking $1.1 million to win $1 million.
While the Falcons are tasked with facing a New England team that has won four Super Bowls, recent history suggests Atlanta may be the smart play.
According to OddsShark, in the past 15 Super Bowls, 12 underdogs have covered, including last year.
The point spread for Super Bowl 51 has stayed at Patriots -3 pretty the last two weeks.
At that spread, the sportsbook operator CG Technology received a $1 million bet on the Falcons +3 Friday, according to ESPN.com. About 61 percent of point spread bets at CG Technology have been placed on the Patriots thus far, but more money was on the Falcons even before the $1 million bet.
MGM’s sportsbook took a $485,000 bet on the Patriots on Friday, after taking some wagers on the Falcons in the “$200,000 to $300,000” range Thursday. MGM vice president of race and sports Jay Rood told ESPN on Friday that about 60 percent of the money was on the Patriots at his book.