According to Las Vegas sportsbooks, the Oakland Raiders are drawing more bets and interest than any other team in the NFL.
If you thought the hype on the Oakland Raiders this offseason had already reached its zenith, you haven’t seen anything yet. That’s because Mark Davis’s team is drawing more bets in Las Vegas sportsbooks than any other team, including the New England Patriots. The amount of action on Oakland has moved the line for them winning the Super Bowl from 20-1 odds to now just 6-1, an incredible shift in the preseason without any real transactions to back it up.
Per ESPN’s David Purdum, a poll of several sportsbooks shows just how popular the Raiders are with Vegas casino-goers. Purdum writes:
"At William Hill’s 108 Nevada sportsbooks, the Raiders have attracted nearly twice as many bets to win the Super Bowl as any other team. They’re also No. 1 in Super Bowl bets at Caesars Palace, Station Casinos, South Point, Westgate Las Vegas and CG Technology sportsbooks."
The Raiders are ascending at a perfect time and recently inked their young quarterback Derek Carr to a contract that makes him the NFL’s highest paid player. Add in young talent on both sides of the ball, including wide receiver Amari Cooper, pass rusher Khalil Mack and an unretired Marshawn Lynch and you’ve got a perfect cocktail on paper for fans to support.
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Unfortunately, championships are won on the field, not paper, and teams like the Dolphins and Redskins will tell you what winning free agency will do for you in the end. The Raiders look the part on paper, but they’ve gone 1-5 against the Kansas City Chiefs in the last three years. Meanwhile K.C. swept the entire division just last year and return the bulk of their own young roster. The Denver Broncos still have the foundation of a Super Bowl winning defense, and the Chargers always play everyone tough as long as Philip Rivers is around.
The reality is that the AFC West is likely to result in a bloodbath in which everyone simply hopes to come out as unscathed as possible. If anyone should be earning such strong support and bets from the AFC, the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers are much better bets who have clearer paths to the postseason.