Anyone who thought Arizona sports betting apps would stop taking bets en masse once the Arizona Cardinals season ended was woefully mistaken.
This week’s betting splits across several sports betting operators show outsized Arizona NFL betting demand in the division round of the playoffs, a week after the Cardinals were eliminated by the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round.
Arizona fans are still locked in for Sunday’s Conference Championship Games — Cincinnati at Kansas City, 1 p.m. Arizona time on CBS; and San Francisco at L.A. Rams, 4:30 p.m. on FOX.
Here’s a look at the two games and how Arizona sports betting customers are placing their bets vs. the national average.
What to Know About Sunday’s Championship Games
The Chiefs are 7-point favorites against the Bengals at DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona and FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona, while BetMGM Arizona has Kansas City at -7.5 as of Wednesday afternoon.
In the NFC title game, DraftKings Arizona, BetMGM Arizona and FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona all have the Rams at -3.5 to advance to their second Super Bowl since moving back to L.A. in 2016.
As far as moneyline wagers are concerned, the Chiefs are at -350 on BetMGM Arizona and FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona, to go with -335 on DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona. The Rams are at -170 on DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona, -175 on BetMGM Arizona, and -184 at FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona against the 49ers.
How Arizona’s Bets Stack Up
As opposed to bettors nationwide, customers at BetMGM Arizona are putting their money on the Rams at -3.5 — 59% of the handle bet on the spread has come in for the Rams as opposed to just 37% nationally.
The Cardinals and Rams squared off three times this season, with the Rams winning 34-11 on Jan. 17 in the Wild Card playoffs and 30-23 on Dec. 13 in Arizona. The Cardinals won the first meeting between the teams, 37-20 on Oct. 3.
The percentage of bets placed is a little different, though, with 53% of Arizona wagers in favor of the 49ers (the number is 49% nationally).
Arizona bettors at BetMGM greatly favor the NFC Championship Game over, which has dropped from 47.5 total points to 46.5. Sixty-one percent of bets in the state and 69% of the handle is on the over, compared to 50% of bets and 41% of handle nationally.
In terms of moneyline, BetMGM’s Arizona customers share the country’s support for San Francisco, which has helped drop the 49ers moneyline from +160 to +155 — the Rams have moved from -190 to -185.
In the AFC Championship Game, Arizona bettors at BetMGM believe in the Bengals at +7.5 more than the rest of the country (79% of handle in the state vs. 63% nationwide) and the Chiefs moneyline at -350 (71% of handle in the state vs. 54% nationwide).
At DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona, the Arizona and national numbers are almost identical.
The Rams are overwhelming betting favorites against the spread (60% of national handle at -3.5) and on the moneyline (69% of national handle at -170), while the money greatly favors Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game (79% of national handle with a spread of -7 and 62% of national handle with a -335 moneyline).
WynnBET Arizona has seen 53.8% of moneyline tickets go for the 49ers in Arizona vs. 51.4% nationally. They’ve also seen 53.9% of spread bets go in favor of the Rams vs. 54% on the national level.
But in terms of overall handle, 61.8% of all Arizona spread bets have gone for the Rams as opposed to 53.2% nationally.
For Sunday’s AFC title game, 56.4% of all moneyline handle favors the Chiefs vs. 55.6% nationally. The state’s spread market has seen 79.4% of handle in favor of Kansas City, 2% higher than the national figure.
