Someone could have made a fortune betting on the Cincinnati Bengals over the past two months. It’s just too bad no one was actually betting on the Cincinnati Bengals over the past two months.

The consummate underdog Bengals roll into Super Bowl 56 on February 13 against the Los Angeles Rams having covered the point spread in seven straight games, including in all three of their playoff contests. But sportsbooks have been the ones benefiting the most from their ascent, as bookmakers far and wide have reported lopsided action against the Bengals every step of the way.

“The public definitely did not play them at all during the playoffs,” says Jay Kornegay, vice president of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook. “When they played the Raiders [in the wild-card round], it was pretty well-balanced but maybe a little in favor of the Raiders. But [in the divisional round], they were all over Titans. It was one of the largest wins we’ve ever had. Then, of course, when they played Kansas City in the [AFC] Championship Game, 70 to 75% of the tickets were on Kansas City.”

The Bengals eked out each of those games—by a total of 13 points—to put themselves in position to become the most improbable Super Bowl champion in NFL history. The SuperBook had Cincinnati at 200-to-1 to hoist the Lombardi Trophy two weeks before the season began.

Last year’s Buccaneers (before they signed Tom Brady), the 2016-2017 Philadelphia Eagles and 2001-2002 New England Patriots were all 60-to-1 at one point going into the season and are currently tied as the longest-shots to ever win the title.

The Bengals’ final test is a formidable one, though. Cincinnati is a 4.5-point underdog to the Rams, which, unlike the Bengals, were always included on the short list of Super Bowl contenders.

LA shot down from 20- to 12-to-1 in the offseason at the SuperBook when the Rams traded for longtime Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, and never got any higher than that. The average preseason future price of the past 10 Super Bowl champions is 13-to-1.

“The Rams, with the moves they’ve made from Stafford and then in the season with [defensive end] Von Miller and [wide receiver] Odell Beckham, they’ve been on them,” Jason McCormick, Station Casinos’ vice president of race and sports, says of season-long betting interest.

The Rams have repeatedly mortgaged their future to win now. They haven’t made a first-round pick in the NFL Draft since 2016 and have already traded away their top selection in each of the next two years. It’s a high-risk, high-reward strategy that has largely paid off.

The Rams have now made two Super Bowl trips in four years (they lost to the Patriots 13-3 as 2.5-point underdogs in 2019) and their roster boasts the star power befitting of their new Hollywood home.

Among the big names on the Rams’ roster are the consensus best defensive player in the NFL (defensive tackle Aaron Donald), arguably the league’s best cornerback (Jalen Ramsey) and a future Hall of Fame left tackle (Andrew Whitworth who ironically spent most of his career with the Bengals).

Meanwhile, Cooper Kupp gained 1,965 yards from scrimmage this season to set the all-time NFL record among wide receivers. It’s no surprise that bookmakers are bracing for Kupp to be perhaps the most popularly bet player in the annually colossal offering of Super Bowl proposition wagers.

Odds to win the Super Bowl MVP were one of the first sets of exotic wagers put up at Caesars Sports, where Kupp went from 9-to-1 to 5-to-1 after a slew of action, including one $6,000 wager.

“He’s just somebody that everybody likes to root for, and, if he has any type of a decent game, he’s going to get a lot of votes,” says Adam Pullen, Caesars Sports assistant director of trading. 

Donald is another player whose odds have dropped in the MVP market, as the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year went from 30- to 12-to-1. The last defensive player to win the MVP award was his teammate Miller, who earned the honors at Super Bowl 50, when he led the Denver Broncos past the Carolina Panthers.

The Bengals have less of a veteran presence to lean on; second-year quarterback Joe Burrow and rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase have ascended to the faces of their franchise. Burrow and Chase have quickly become household names by reuniting in Cincinnati two years after leading LSU to the College Football Playoff national championship, but they aren’t the established stars typically highlighted in the Super Bowl.

The relative unfamiliarity with the Bengals’ personnel has certainly played a role in most bettors doubting them, a trend that continued after the Super Bowl matchup was set. All the early money was on the Rams, pushing them from as low as 3.5-point favorites at open.

The largest wagers, certainly those of the seven-figure variety, tend to come in the last few days before kickoff, but some notable ones surfaced on the Rams immediately. Caesars took one $522,500 wager on LA -4 hours after the matchup materialized, and a $180,000 bet to win $100,000 on the money line for the Rams to win outright.

“It won’t be that lopsided, but I would expect a few more tickets on LA than Cincinnati by kickoff,” Kornegay says. “But there are going to be a lot of moneyline bets on the Bengals. They’ve won a lot of hearts and minds out there. There are a lot of people warming up to the Bengals.”

Cincinnati has gotten as high as +176 (risking $100 to win $176) to win the game on the moneyline, implying a slightly better than a 1-in-3 chance. That’s a relatively high price compared to recent Super Bowls underdogs, but astronomically low considering how far up the betting board the Bengals started out this season.

Few saw their breakout coming off a 4-11-1 campaign last season that included Burrow tearing his ACL late in the year and requiring surgery. But if Cincinnati pulls off one more upset against another team that should have it outmanned, few will forget the unlikeliest Super Bowl champion ever.

“They’ve been a tough team to figure out during the year,” McCormick says. “But with the young Joe Burrow, the story of the Bengals is a great story.”