Oddsmakers Like the Bills as Super Bowl LVIII Winners

Buffalo Bills Looking Like Favourites for 2023

GeoComply conducted 100 million geolocation checks on Saturday and Sunday, a 25 per cent increase from last year’s Super Bowl weekend. New York led the way in the U.S. with 13.9 million GeoComply geolocation checks.

It was a massive sporting event. So it’s no surprise 2023-24 Super Bowl futures bets are front and centre now, to build off the momentum of one of the most-watched and thrilling Super Bowls in recent memory – won by the Kansas City Chiefs, 38-35, beating the Philadelphia Eagles, on a last-second field goal.

How does that impact the Buffalo Bills? As a spokesperson for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s Proline reports, when it comes to betting volume, the Bills have always been seen as a hometown team in most of Ontario. The exception is maybe the Detroit Lions, popular in markets like Sault Ste Marie, because most of U.S. TV back in the day came out of Detroit. But we digress.

Proline Super Bowl LVIII winner futures have the Chiefs at 6.00, the Bills at 7.00, followed by the 49ers at 7.50, Eagles at 8.50, Bengals at 9.50, and the Cowboys at 13.00 (The Lions? They are down the chart, tied with the Jets and Buccaneers in 12th spot at 34.00)

At FanDuel, the futures have the Chiefs at 7.00, followed by the Bills (9.50), Eagles (10.00), Bengals (10.00), and 49ers (10.00), rounding out the Top 5. The Lions are at 26.00, which speaks to their confidence in the job Lions coach Dan Campbell has done with that team.

DraftKings has the Chiefs and Bills as favourites to win the Super Bowl next season – the Chiefs opening at 7.00, followed by the Bills at 8.00, the 49ers at 9.00, then the Eagles and Bengals, both at 10.00.

Bills Should Be Healthy, Improved in 2023

There’s been plenty of Bills news of late that are impacting those odds.

Foremost is the health of QB Josh Allen. Everyone knew Allen injured that throwing elbow when his hand hit the helmet of a New York Jets defender in a Week 8 loss. There was a noticeable zip missing from some of his throws in ensuing weeks. 

It was similar to the more severe injury 49ers QB Brock Purdy suffered in the playoff loss to the Eagles – a fully torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. He is undergoing surgery on Feb. 22 and will be on the shelf for six months.

Doctors determined that Allen’s injury to his UCL is a sprain, and he won’t require surgery. 

Also, and just as importantly, outside linebacker Von Miller insists he will be back from that ACL injury by the time next season starts.

All eyes then are on re-signing safety Jordan Poyer, a 2022 Pro Bowler, and inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, both free agents. The Bills will have to create cap space to make that happen. They’ll have to re-work contracts. 

Allen was sacked eight times in two post-season games, so the offensive line will also need to be a focus. Maybe they’ll focus their first draft pick on addressing that.

Running back Devin Singletary is a free agent, and Spotrac has his market value at $5.5 million per year, so that will be an interesting call on a guy who ran for 819 yards and a 4.6-yard average this past season. 

Since they also have a similar running back in James Cook (5-foot-11, 190 pounds, Singletary is 5-foot-7, 203 pounds), who averaged 5.7 yards and had 507 yards in his rookie season, the Bills make look for a fullback, letting Singletary go, all to take some of the heat off Allen.

Allen, at 6-foot-5, 237 pounds, runs like a fullback – he had 762 yards rushing this past season, a 6.1 yards-per-carry average, good for 34th in the NFL, which is not sustainable in the long run.  

Oddsmakers have the Bills right up there as Super Bowl favourites, but there’s still a lot of work to do in Buffalo.