Professional football has been around for over 100 years, but the National Football League as we know it today didn’t start until 1966, when the NFL agreed to merge with the American Football League. One of the conditions of the merger: the creation of the Super Bowl.
At first, people wondered whether the AFL teams could keep up with the old guard. Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers easily won the first two Super Bowls (then called the AFL-NFL Championship Game) as big favorites. Football’s biggest spectacle needed more drama, more excitement.
The popular quarterback with the matinee-idol charisma guaranteed his New York Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts at Super Bowl III, even though the Colts were massive 18-point favorites. Namath delivered: New York won 16-7, and the Super Bowl was on its way to superstardom.
Super Bowl in the 70s
By 1970, the merger was complete and the 10 AFL teams (plus three from the NFL) were placed in the newly minted American Football Conference (AFC). The remaining 13 NFL teams formed the National Football Conference (NFC). Among the three crossover teams: the Pittsburgh Steelers, who would go on to win four Super Bowls in the 1970s with Terry Bradshaw at quarterback.
The Dallas Cowboys, aka America’s Team, would be Pittsburgh’s most important rival during the ‘70s. These two teams met at Super Bowl X and Super Bowl XIII, with Pittsburgh winning both times. But the Cowboys still managed to win two other Super Bowls during the decade. To this day, Dallas and Pittsburgh are tied for the most Super Bowl appearances with eight apiece.
Super Bowl in the 80s
The 1980s, however, belonged to the San Francisco 49ers. The combination of QB Joe Montana and WE Jerry Rice led the 49ers to four Super Bowls, including an amazing 20-16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals (+7) at Super Bowl XXIII. This game was voted the top Super Bowl of all-time on NFL.com.
The Niners couldn’t win them all, though. In 1985, the Chicago Bears became a national phenomenon with head coach Mike Ditka, QB Jim McMahon, RB Walter Payton, and a 340-pound rookie defensive tackle named William “The Refrigerator” Perry. This unlikely collection of stars and misfits went on to an easy 46-10 win over the New England Patriots (+10) at Super Bowl XX. If that weren’t enough, their novelty hit “Super Bowl Shuffle” reached No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Super Bowl in the 90s and Beyond
The ‘90s saw the resurgence of the Cowboys; they won three Super Bowls in four years, including a 27-17 win over the Steelers (+13.5) at Super Bowl XXX. But the biggest game of the decade was Super Bowl XXXII, where John Elway finally led the Denver Broncos to the Promised Land with a 31-24 upset victory over the defending champions, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers (–11).
The increase in parity in the NFL saw seven different teams win the Super Bowl in the 2000s, but the New England Patriots were the closest thing the NFL had to a dynasty, winning three championships in four years. The first was the sweetest, an improbable 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams (–14) that made Tom Brady an international star.
Brady then lost his next two Super Bowl appearances to the underdog New York Giants, both on last-minute touchdowns, before bouncing back to win Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 over the Seattle Seahawks? Can Brady and the Patriots win another one? Stay tuned.
Previous Super Bowl Betting Results
| # | Score | Line (Total) | Result |
| L | DEN 24 – CAR 10 | CAR -4.5 (43) | Dog-Un |
| XLIX | NE 24 – SEA 20 | NE -1.5 (47) | Fave-Ov |
| XLVIII | SEA 43 – DEN 8 | DEN -2.5 (48) | Dog-Ov |
| XLVII | BAL 34 – SF 31 | SF -4.5 (48) | Dog-Ov |
| XLVI | NYG 21 – NE 17 | NE -2.5 (53) | Dog-Un |
| XLV | GB 31 – PIT 25 | GB -3 (45) | Fave-Ov |
| XLIV | NO 31 – IND 17 | IND -5 (57) | Dog-Un |
| XLIII | PIT 27 – ARI 23 | PIT -7 (46) | Dog-Ov |
| XLII | NYG 17 – NE 14 | NE -12 (55) | Dog-Un |
| XLI | IND 29 – CHI 17 | IND -7 (47) | Fave-Un |
| XL | PIT 21 – SEA 10 | PIT -4 (47) | Fave-Un |
| XXIX | NE 24 – PHI 21 | NE -7 (46.5) | Dog-Un |
| XXXVIII | NE 32 – CAR 29 | NE -7 (37.5) | Dog-Ov |
| XXXVII | TB 48 – OAK 21 | OAK -4 (44) | Dog-Ov |
| XXXVI | NE 20 – STL 17 | STL -14 (53) | Dog-Un |
| XXXV | BAL 34 – NYG 7 | BAL -3 (33) | Fave-Ov |
| XXXIV | STL 23 – TEN 16 | STL -7 (45) | Push-Un |
| XXXIII | DEN 34 – ATL 19 | DEN -7.5 (52.5) | Fave-Ov |
| XXXII | DEN 31 – GB 24 | GB -11 (49) | Dog-Ov |
| XXXI | GB 35 – NE 21 | GB -14 (49) | Push-Ov |
| XXX | DAL 27 – PIT 17 | DAL -13.5 (51) | Dog-Un |
| XXIX | SF 49 – SD 26 | SF -18.5 | Fave-Ov |
| XXVIII | DAL 30 – BUF 13 | DAL -10.5 (50.5) | Fave-Un |
| XXVII | DAL 52 – BUF 17 | DAL -6.5 (44.5) | Fave-Ov |
| XXVI | WAS 37 – BUF 24 | WAS -7 (49) | Fave-Ov |
| XXV | NYG 20 – BUF 19 | BUF -7 (40.5) | Dog-Un |
| XXIV | SF 55 – DEN 10 | SF -12 (48) | Fave-Ov |
| XXIII | SF 20 – CIN 16 | SF -7 (48) | Dog-Un |
| XXII | WAS 42 – DEN 10 | DEN -3 (47) | Dog-Ov |
| XXI | NYG 39 – DEN 20 | NYG -9.5 (40) | Fave-Ov |
| XX | CHI 46 – NE 10 | CHI -10 (37.5) | Fave-Ov |
| XIX | SF 38 – MIA 16 | SF -3.5 | Fave-Ov |
| XVIII | LA 38 – WAS 9 | WAS -3 (48) | Fave-Un |
| XVII | WAS 27 – MIA 17 | MIA -3 (36.5) | Dog-Ov |
| XVI | SF 26 – CIN 21 | SF -1 (48) | Fave-Un |
| XV | OAK 27 – PHI 10 | PHI -3 (37.5) | Dog-Un |
| XIV | PIT 31 – LA 19 | PIT -10.5 (36) | Fave-Ov |
| XIII | PIT 35 – DAL 31 | PIT -3.5 (37) | Fave-Ov |
| XII | DAL 27 – DEN 10 | DAL -6 (39) | Fave-Un |
| XI | OAK 34 – MIN14 | OAK -4 (38) | Fave-Ov |
| X | PIT 21 – DAL 17 | PIT -7 (36) | Dog-Ov |
| IX | PIT 16 – MIN 6 | PIT -3 (33) | Fave-Un |
| VIII | MIA 24 – MIN 7 | MIA -6.5 (33) | Fave-Un |
| VII | MIA 14 – WAS 7 | MIA -1 (33) | Fave-Un |
| VI | DAL 24 – MIA 3 | DAL -6 (34) | Fave-Un |
| V | BAL 16 – DAL 13 | BAL -2.5 (36) | Fave-Un |
| IV | KC 23 – MIN 7 | MIN -12 (39) | Dog-Un |
| III | NYJ 16 – BAL 7 | BAL -18 (40) | Dog-Un |
| II | GB 33 – OAK 14 | GB -13.5 (43) | Fave-Ov |
| I | GB 35 – KC 10 | GB-14 (N/A) | Fave |