Doug GreenbergFeb 9, 2026, 09:05 AM ET
The Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl LX after entering the season as +6000 long shots. They'll enter the next season favored to win Super Bowl LXI, but their relatively long odds suggest the field is unprecedentedly wide open.
Seattle is tied with the Los Angeles Rams at +950 to win the NFL's championship in 2027, followed by the Buffalo Bills at +1100, and the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens and AFC champion New England Patriots tied at +1300, according to DraftKings odds.
If they hold until the beginning of the season, the Seahawks' and Rams' odds would be the longest for a preseason favorite on record since at least 1977, per ESPN Research and SportsOddsHistory.com. Since 2015, +950 would have been the second-shortest odds on the odds board once and fifth-shortest on the board six times.
The longer odds at the top means there is more balance in the middle tiers of the odds board. The Detroit Lions (+1400), Green Bay Packers (+1400) and Los Angeles Chargers (+1500) are just some of the perennial contenders at +2800 or shorter -- a group that ultimately includes half of the teams in the league.
DraftKings Sportsbook director Johnny Avello notes that teams like the Kansas City Chiefs (+1500), whose dynastic ambitions are somewhat in flux, and the Denver Broncos (+1800), who narrowly missed playing this year's Super Bowl, are perhaps getting more lost in the sea of contenders than they would in previous years.
"When you have teams that are a little higher priced on the top end of the future book, that just means you can't have teams that are really high priced in the middle," Avello told ESPN. "I think there's just a lot of uncertainty with these teams right now and after what we saw happen this year with [New England and Seattle] making a big move, that just shows you that maybe that's the way football is. Maybe there's parity now in football."
The Pats and Seahawks both entered the 2025 season at +6000 to win the Super Bowl, tying Seattle with the 2001 Patriots squad as the second-largest preseason long shot to be crowned champion. Given these preseason afterthoughts making runs at the title, BetMGM media insights manager John Ewing called the opening Super Bowl LXI odds "a reflex to what we just saw, more or less."
Some bettors are already lining up their Super Bowl futures for next season. TheScoreBet reports that the Seahawks have taken a leading 21.2% of bets and 33.8% of handle in early betting, with the Patriots and Chicago Bears (+2500) taking 13.9% and 10.3% of the money, respectively.
Seattle's NFC West rival in Los Angeles has also seen its fair share of action, taking 12.9% of the wagers at the sportsbook.
"The Rams were dominant throughout the NFL season, and with minimal expected roster turnover and two first-round draft picks, they remain among the strongest contenders heading into 2026," Caesars Sportsbook's head of football Joey Feazel said over email. "With Matthew Stafford all but confirming his return, Los Angeles projects to enter the season with one of the league's best rosters and the highest probability of making a deep postseason run."
DraftKings reports it took a "substantial" bet on the New York Giants in the early goings, forcing the book to shorten them from +8000 to +7000.
The Arizona Cardinals and Miami Dolphins sit at the bottom of the Super Bowl LXI odds board, each sporting 250-1 odds to win it all in 2027.
