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David Purdum
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is the consensus favorite to win Super Bowl MVP for a third straight year at sportsbooks, and this time, his team is favored, too.
Mahomes entered Sunday at +120, ahead of Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (+250) and quarterback Jalen Hurts (+330) at ESPN BET.
The Chiefs, who kicked off as underdogs in the past two Super Bowls, were consensus 1-point favorites Sunday morning. Mahomes led Kansas City to comeback victories in the previous two Super Bowls, including one against the Eagles in 2023.
Despite Mahomes’ Super Bowl résumé, the betting public is siding heavily with Barkley in the MVP race. More money has been bet on Barkley to win MVP than on Mahomes and Hurts combined at ESPN BET.
Seven running backs have won Super Bowl MVP, the last being Terrell Davis of the Denver Broncos in 1997. Barkley has the shortest MVP odds for any non-quarterback in over two decades, and no player has had shorter MVP odds than his team’s QB during that span, according to ESPN Research.
“A big day for Saquon will make a lot of bettors happy,” said Adrian Horton, ESPN BET’s director of North American sports trading.
The largest reported MVP bet, however, was on Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. BetMGM reported taking a $25,000 bet on Kelce to win MVP at 15-1, a wager that would win $375,000. No tight end has won Super Bowl MVP.
Aside from the big names, bettors have gravitated to some longer shots. Caesars Sportsbook reported betting interest on Chiefs kicker Harrison Butler, who opened at 1,000-1 to win MVP. BetMGM said it took a $10 MVP bet on Eagles offensive lineman Landon Dickerson at 1,000-1.
The Super Bowl point spread shifted to Eagles -1 briefly Friday at a few sportsbooks, including ESPN BET, but quickly moved back to Kansas City as the favorite.