Philadelphia Eagles enter Super Bowl LIX as slight underdogs to the Kansas City Chiefs

The Philadelphia Eagles enter Super Bowl LIX as slight underdogs to the Kansas City Chiefs as they seek to avenge their Super Bowl loss two years ago and keep Kansas City from the first Super Bowl three-peat in National Football League history.

The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will legally wager a record $1.39 billion on Super Bowl LIX.

That figure is up 60% from last year, the first year that all U.S. bettors could legally wager on the Super Bowl following the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling striking down a federal ban on sports gambling.

The gaming trade group's estimate is based on an analysis by economists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst's Center for Economic Analysis of Public Policy.

The economists predict that Super Bowl LIX will generate $2.6 billion in total economic impact.

The vast majority of that total will come from direct and indirect spending by bettors, the economists said. They estimate that bettors will collectively lose about $1.26 billion in wagers during the game.

Bettors' losses will go to sportsbooks, which in turn will pay taxes and generate revenue for state and local governments.

The economists also estimate that Super Bowl LIX will generate about $676 million in wages and salaries, and support nearly 19,000 jobs.

The gaming group's survey of 2,000 adults also found that 57% plan to place a wager on Sunday's game. Among Gen Z and Millennial men, that figure rises to 75%.

Of those planning to wager, 41% said they will use a state-licensed online sportsbook, 26% said they will use a casino sportsbook and 14% said they will use a sports betting app.

The survey also found that 30% of bettors plan to wager $100 or less on the game, while 17% plan to wager more than $500.

The average bettor is expected to lose about $900 during the game, the economists said.

The growing popularity of legal sports betting is evident in the rapid expansion of state-licensed sportsbooks and betting apps over the past five years.

When the Supreme Court ruling opened the door for states to legalize and regulate sports gambling, only Delaware, Montana and Nevada had already done so.

Now, 37 states, Washington D.C., and five U.S. territories have legalized some form of sports betting. New York and New Jersey are currently the states with the largest legal sports betting markets.

In addition to standard bets on the game's outcome and point total, sportsbooks are offering a variety of prop bets for the Super Bowl matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

Here are some of the wackier prop bets available:

Coin Toss

Prospective gamblers less confident in their football-predicting prowess can bet the outcome of the coin toss, heads or tails, and wager on which team will win the toss, Eagles or Chiefs.

They can also bet on either team to win both the coin toss and game. Caesars Sportsbook had the Eagles winning both the coin toss and game at +290 odds as of Friday. A successful $10 bet on that outcome would pay $29 profit.

Jersey Specials

DraftKings Sportsbook, meanwhile, is offering a number of "jersey specials" — novelty bets that involve player jersey numbers.

A fan of star Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, who wears No. 26, can place a +900 bet on Barkley to have exactly 26 rushing attempts in the Super Bowl. A $100 bet on that specific outcome would pay a $900 profit in the relatively unlikely scenario that it hits.

For those unfamiliar, the higher the number after the "+" sign the longer the odds. A +600 bet is considered less likely to hit than a +200 bet as far as bookmakers are concerned.

Star Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce wears jersey No. 87. The odds that he records exactly 87 receiving yards in the Super Bowl were +4000 on DraftKings, meaning a successful $100 bet on that outcome would pay a $4,000 profit.

DraftKings also lists a "Birthday Boy!" special for Barkley, who turns 28 on Sunday, offering +15000 odds on Barkley scoring five or more touchdowns. A successful $1 bet at +15000 would pay a profit of $150.

QB Catch?

Philadelphia's last Super Bowl victory came seven years ago when the Eagles beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

That game featured a trick play that came to be known as the "Philly Special," where Eagles center Jason Kelce snapped the football to running back Corey Clement, who pitched it to tight end Trey Burton before Burton passed the ball to quarterback Nick Foles for a touchdown. Foles became the first player in history to throw and catch a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl.

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