Opening Super Bowl Line Gives Chargers Little Hope

Oddsmakers anticipating a Super Bowl mismatch made the San Francisco 49ers a 17-point favorite Sunday over San Diego, the biggest opening margin in Super Bowl history.

The spread didn’t deter some bettors, who quickly put money on the 49ers and prompted one sports book to move the line to 19.

“The first bet we took was over $10,000 on the 49ers,” said Lenny Del Genio, sports book manager at Bally’s hotel-casino, where the line was 19 points shortly after the 49ers beat the Dallas Cowboys 38-28 in the NFC title game. San Diego topped Pittsburgh 17-13 for the AFC title earlier Sunday. The NFC champion has won 10 straight Super Bowls, many by lopsided margins.

Oddsmaker Michael Roxbor ough said the spread hasn’t been so big since the Colts opened as 17-point favorites over the Jets in Super Bowl III. The Jets won 16-7.

“We had to set a line big enough so that the sports books would get some money bet on the Chargers,” Roxborough said.