The Las Vegas Raiders aren’t exactly viewed as a Super Bowl contender this year, but if they can somehow win the Lombardi Trophy, one bold gambler out there is going to hit it big.
According to Ben Fawkes at Yahoo Sports, someone has bet $25,000 on the Raiders to win Super Bowl LX. The bet was made at DraftKings, where the Raiders are currently being given 100-to-1 chance to win it all, which means this gambler would walk away with $2.5 million in winnings if the Raiders can pick up their first Super Bowl win since 1983.
On the surface, this bet definitely seems a little crazy. If you want to lose $25,000 you could just set the money on fire and then flush the ashes down the toilet. On the other hand, it’s possible that the Raiders could be the NFL’s surprise team this year. Let’s break down both sides.
Why this bet is crazy
The NFL thrives on parity and the idea that any team can win the Super Bowl in any given year, but parity only goes so far. Since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, it’s been extremely rare for a long-shot team to win the Super Bowl. As a matter of fact, over the past 55 years, there’s only been ONE team with preseason odds of 100-to-1 or worse to win the Super Bowl and that was the Rams back in 1999.
Twenty-six years ago, the “Greatest Show on Turf” took the NFL by storm. During the preseason, the Rams were a 150-to-1 long shot to win it all, but despite those odds, they were able to shock the NFL and win it all. Of course, that team was littered with future Hall of Famers like Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk, Orlando Pace and Isaac Bruce, which is something the Raiders don’t seem to exactly have.
Besides the Rams, there have only been two other Super Bowl winning teams that were even 50-to-1 long shots and that was the 1981 San Francisco 49ers (50-1) and the 2001 New England Patriots (60-to-1), who actually beat the Rams to win the Super Bowl.
The point here is that when it comes to picking the best teams in the NFL, the oddsmakers usually get it right, which is why long shot teams almost never win the NFL’s biggest game.
It also doesn’t help that the Raiders play in the toughest division in football. The Raiders play in an AFC West where every team made the playoffs last year except for them. That’s a lot to overcome for a team that tied for the fourth-worst record in the NFL last year.
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Why this bet could hit
Yes, the Raiders are coming off a 4-13 season and they’re a long shot to win the Super Bowl, but they’ve completely revamped their roster and also brought in a coaching staff with a championship pedigree. The biggest move was the decision to hire Pete Carroll. In 2010, Carroll took over a Seahawks team that went 5-11 in 2009, and he had them in the playoffs in his first year. Not only did Seattle get to the postseason in four of Carroll’s first five years, but that span included two Super Bowl trips, so if anyone can turn the Raiders around quickly, it’s Carroll.
Besides getting a new head coach, the Raiders also added a new quarterback when they traded for Geno Smith. Carroll and Smith spent two seasons together in Seattle and finished with a winning record each time, so it’s certainly possible that streak could continue in 2025.
It also helps that Smith will have Chip Kelly calling plays for him. The Raiders’ new offensive coordinator is coming from Ohio State, where he helped the Buckeyes win a national title last season. The Raiders revamped offense includes first-round pick Ashton Jeanty, who will lead a running game that should be much better than what Las Vegas had last season.
Raiders betting odds
Make playoffs | +330 |
AFC West | +2000 |
AFC Championship | +5000 |
Super Bowl | +10000 |
Although we haven’t seen a long shot team win the Super Bowl since 1999, we have seen several long shot teams get close. The 2021 Cincinnati Bengals had preseason odds of 150-to-1 and they ended up making it to the Super Bowl before losing to the Rams. Last season, the Washington Commanders also had preseason odds of 150-to-1 and they came one game away from getting to the Super Bowl.
Basically, there seems to be a surprise team every year, and the Raiders could certainly be that team in 2025.
Of course, if you’re going to bet $25,000 on the Raiders to win the Super Bowl, you’re obviously confident in them, which is why a slightly different bet might have made more sense.
- The better Raiders bet: Make the playoffs (+330). This team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2021 and haven’t won a playoff game since the 2002 season, so it’s hard to feel confident in them, but I actually think the Raiders could contend for a wild-card spot this year, which is why I like this bet. If you were to bet $25,000 on Vegas just to get to the playoffs (they don’t even have to win a game), you’d make a cool profit of $82,500 with a total payout of $107,500 if they land a wild-card spot.
SportsLine betting guru R.J. White also has a couple of Raiders’ bets he likes for the 2025 season, and you can check those out here.
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Author: John Breech
July 10, 2025 | 12:40 pm
