Someone Bet Insane Amount of Money on Raiders to Win the Super Bowl
The Raiders underwent a massive transformation this offseason, trading away franchise stalwart quarterback Derek Carr and bringing in Jimmy Garoppolo to replace him, that among many moves they made to revamp their roster.
It appears someone really likes the changes in Vegas, because one person just plunked down a huge bet on the Raiders to win the Super Bowl that would net them near $1 million if it hits.
According to betting insider Ben Fawkes, a bettor wagered $20,000 that the Raiders will win the 2023 Super Bowl. They placed the wager at +4000 odds, meaning if the Raiders win, the bettor will cash $800,000.
As you can see above, the bettor could have gotten better odds than +4000 if they had bet elsewhere, but, as they say, buyer beware. For context, +8000 odds means the Raiders have an implied probability of winning the Super Bowl lower than one percent.
Beyond the wager amount, what makes this bet even more bold is the Raiders currently have one of the lowest win total OVER/UNDERS in the NFL. Depending on what book you bet at, that over under is somewhere between 6.5-7 games, meaning the bookmakers believe the Raiders will win a total of 6-8 games max.
Their odds of making the playoffs are equally long, sitting at +390 at some books. That means the bookmakers are giving the Raiders an implied probability of MAKING the playoffs of just over 20%.
The Raiders enter this season a team seemingly in transition. Second-year coach Josh McDaniels was seemingly fighting for his job last year and is certainly on the hot seat entering this season.
McDaniels has familiarity with Garoppolo from their time in New England together, but Garoppolo has had a tough time staying healthy recently, missing time in each of the last three seasons. He did lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2019, but has failed to put up a similar season in the three since.
Meanwhile, star running back Josh Jacobs, who led the league in rushing last year, is holding out from camp amidst a contract dispute and former top pass catcher Darren Waller was traded to the Giants. The Raiders might have found their replacement at tight end for Waller with Michael Mayer in the second round, but they still have a lot of question marks at the skill positions.
The Raiders haven't won a Super Bowl since 1984, but clearly one person out there believes this is their year. It remains to be seen if the person's instinct is right, but a lot of things will have to go right for them to cash that $800K ticket.
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