Futures odds bets on Indianapolis Winning Super Bowl Rise 20 Percent
Odds on Indianapolis Winning Super Bowl Rise 20 Percent
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The Indianapolis Colts, who won their National Football League first-round playoff game by 25 points on Jan. 9, are persuading some futures traders that the team will win the Super Bowl.
Futures contracts that will pay $10 if the Colts win the Super Bowl rose 20 percent to $1.70 after quarterback Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes last weekend to lead Indianapolis to a 49-24 win over the Denver Broncos. Indianapolis remains the fourth choice among traders.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, whose 15-1 record was the best in the NFL this season, are still the favorite among traders to win with contracts selling at $3.10. While Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers would be the first rookie quarterback to start the Super Bowl, Manning is a seven-year veteran who has won the league's Most Valuable Player award two times.
``Peyton Manning is having an unbelievable year and they're going to be awfully hard to stop,'' said 39-year-old Jim Murray from Morris Plains, New Jersey, who buys and sells contracts on TradeSports. ``I really like my Colts positions right now.''
Futures are agreements to buy or sell assets at a set date and price, and futures on events are paid off in cash. Contracts on teams that are eliminated from the NFL playoffs become worthless.
The New England Patriots, who host the Colts Jan. 16, are trading for the second-highest price at $1.91. The Philadelphia Eagles, who play the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 16, are third at $1.89.
Las Vegas Favorite
Pittsburgh, which hosts the New York Jets tomorrow, also is the favorite to win the Super Bowl at sports books, including the Hilton Race and Sports Book in Las Vegas, where they have 8-5 odds. That means a winning $5 wager on the Steelers will bring an $8 profit. The Colts are 9-2 at the Hilton, down from 5-1 last week.
Oddsmakers and the futures market were correct in baseball's playoffs when they predicted that the Boston Red Sox would defeat the 26-time champion New York Yankees and the nine-time champion St. Louis Cardinals to win the World Series for the first time since 1918.
The Patriots and the Eagles, who had the best record in the National Football Conference, are listed with 4-1 odds to win the Super Bowl. The Atlanta Falcons, whose odds of winning the Super Bowl are 13-1 at the Hilton, play the St. Louis Rams on Saturday. The Rams are listed with 27-1 odds to win the title.
Surging Colts
The price for Indianapolis futures contracts surged along with the team. They were trading for less than a $1 after the Colts started the season with a 4-3 record, then more than doubled after Indianapolis won eight of its final nine games.
``The market keeps pushing the Colts price up because of Manning, and for good reason,'' whose online exchange has about 40,000 members.
Murray said the Colts are still a good buy, even while the team is trading near its season high.
``They are still a little bit of a discount to New England now,'' said Murray, whose day job is trading futures contracts on the New York Board of Trade. ``I don't think they've become overvalued.''
`Manning, Manning, Manning'
The rise in Colts futures may be good for Joe Ferrara, a Jersey City, New Jersey, futures trader who said he's been buying Patriots contracts all season. Even though the Patriots won eight of their final nine games and didn't have to play in the opening round of the playoffs, their contract price has dropped 28 percent from their season high of $2.70 in early December.
``All I've been hearing is Manning, Manning, Manning,'' said the 28-year-old Ferrara, who works as an independent currency trader. ``I love the fact that everybody's on the Peyton Manning bandwagon because that's created a great opportunity to buy the Patriots.''
New England was originally set as a three-point favorite to win this weekend's game against the Colts by oddsmakers at the Las Vegas Hilton. The betting line was changed to 1 1/2 points on Tuesday because of heavy betting on Indianapolis, Hilton Race & Sports Book assistant manager Jeff Sherman said.
``We've seen nothing but Colts money,'' Sherman said. ``People like to put their money on a team with a quick-strike offense like the Colts.''
Las Vegas
Team Futures
---------------------------------
Steelers 8-5 $3.10
Patriots 4-1 1.91
Eagles 4-1 1.89
Colts 9-2 1.70
Falcons 13-1 .75
Rams 27-1 .29
Jets 27-1 .26
Vikings 30-1 .28
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