There is an old saying in the gambling world.
A saying that goes back as far as one can remember, and that will be even more popular now that Massachusetts sportsbooks are legal and live. There are books titled after it. Shirts titled after it. Coffee mugs imprinted with it. The list goes on.
‘Good Teams Win. Great Teams Cover.’
A simple saying, yet one that anyone outside the gambling sphere likely won’t understand. But if you’ve made even a few bets on football games, you know EXACTLY what it means. And now, with Massachusetts sports betting promos available, it will become even more familiar to residents of the Bay State.
There has to be something to that phrase. Everyone knows that the New England Patriots have been a good football team for a long time. Since the turn of the century there has been success after success, playoff season after playoff season, Super Bowl after Super Bowl. That’s a good team.
BetMassachusetts decided to take a look at the team's record since 2000 and decide if, in the eyes of a long time sports gambler, New England has been a good team or a great team.
And remember, Massachusetts sports betting is now live, and online sportsbooks such as BetMGM Massachusetts are accepting wagers.
Eye Of The Beholder
Of course, you would have a hard time convincing anyone that the New England Patriots have been anything but a great football team over the past 20-odd years. They’ve done nothing but win.
From the perspective of a gambler, that is often not enough.
It’s not enough for a gambler to see the New England Patriots host a divisional opponent and win as a heavy favorite. There’s no money to be made betting a -550 line for the host to win. The money is made not when they win, but when they cover. The gambler wants to see the Patriots win by 14 points and cover the -13.5 point spread at much better odds of -110.
BetMassachusetts utilized sportsoddshistory.com to acquire the betting odds and history of all Patriots games and Super Bowl futures odds since 2000. All futures and spreads were standardized to represent the results of a $100 bettor and a (-110) average bet for ATS.
All Super Bowl odds were taken from the day before the NFL regular season. When the 2023 NFL season gets underway, keep it here at BetMassachusetts for updates on the Patriots playoff chances, as well as reviews of the best best Massachusetts sports betting apps.
Betting History of Patriots Since 2000 (Following a $100 Bettor)
Proof Is In The Pudding
To no surprise, $100 would have made significant money betting on New England to win the Super Bowl. With six championships since 2000, a futures bettor would have made $8,250 betting on the Patriots to win prior to each season. That's a figure to keep in mind when heading to WynnBet Massachusetts or any other sportsbooks later this year.
The spread bettors also found themselves on the right side of the ledger more often than not, as a $100 bettor would have made $4,780 since 2000 betting on the New England Patriots to cover the spread. This shows that not only were the Patriots winning most of their games, they were also outperforming the oddsmakers and winning games by more than expected (or, in some rare cases, losing by less than they were expected to).
Oddsmakers have long been known as some of the sharpest minds in the game, and consistently outperforming their expectations over the past 22 years is no small feat. Oddsmakers at legal books such as Caesars Sportsbook Massachusetts would've been tearing their hair out trying to set odds for this squad.
Good teams win. Pretty simple logic there and anyone can see that the Patriots under Bill Belichick (and mostly Tom Brady) have been a good team.
Diving into the numbers has shown that they not only win more often than not, they cover the spread more often than not as well. Great teams cover, and after looking into the stats, it becomes clear that the Pats have been incredible since 2000, and oddsmakers trying to set New England Patriots odds have had a tough time figuring them out.
