Welcome to the most unlikely Super Bowl in history — at least according to the odds.
Before the 2025 season, preseason Super Bowl markets pointed to the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens as joint-favourites at 7/1, with the Kansas City Chiefs next at 8/1. You would hardly have given the Seattle Seahawks at 60/1 or the New England Patriots at 80/1 a second look — but that is where we are now. Those numbers produce the longest combined preseason odds for a Super Bowl pairing since records began in 1977.
Only five Super Bowls have produced combined preseason odds greater than 1,000/1:
– 2025: Patriots 80, Seahawks 60 — combined 4,800
– 1999: Titans 30, Rams 150 — combined 4,500
– 1981: Bengals 60, 49ers 50 — combined 3,000
– 2021: Bengals 150, Rams 12 — combined 1,800
– 2000: Ravens 22, Giants 60 — combined 1,320
Second on that list is the classic Super Bowl XXXIV between the Tennessee Titans and St. Louis Rams at the Georgia Dome, decided when linebacker Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson at the one-yard line to deny a potential game-tying or game-winning touchdown. The Rams’ 23-16 win made them the longest-priced Super Bowl champions in history, having begun the year at 150/1. That season marked the team’s first playoff appearance since 1989 and its first division title since 1985.
Another long-shot classic is Super Bowl XVI, when the Cincinnati Bengals met the San Francisco 49ers at the Pontiac Silverdome — the NFL championship’s first game in a traditionally cold-weather city. The 49ers won 26-21; their preseason odds had been 50/1 before the season and fell to 5/1 the next year as Joe Montana and Bill Walsh’s impact became apparent.
Whichever team wins Super Bowl 60 will move into second place on the list of longest-priced Super Bowl winners. The 1999 Rams remain the benchmark, their transformation into the “Greatest Show on Turf” fuelled by key moves — acquiring Marshall Faulk and, after Trent Green’s preseason injury, Kurt Warner’s emergence as starting quarterback. That team finished 13-3, scored 30+ points a dozen times and produced seven defensive pick-sixes.
The 2001 Patriots’ unlikely rise began amid tragedy and injury: the death of quarterbacks coach Dick Rehbein and Drew Bledsoe’s season-ending injury in Week 2 led to former sixth-round pick Tom Brady taking over. That season launched New England’s dynasty and Brady’s legacy as one of the most decorated players in NFL history.
The modern Patriots responded to a 4-13 2024 by replacing Jerod Mayo with Mike Vrabel as head coach. Much has been made of New England’s favourable 2025 schedule; their opponents’ combined regular-season winning percentage was just 0.391, the lowest among all 32 teams. In the AFC Championship the Patriots beat top-seeded Denver on the road while the Broncos were without injured starter Bo Nix. In the past 35 years, only the 1999 Rams faced an easier combined regular-season and postseason path to the Super Bowl. New England’s defense improved markedly, allowing the fourth-fewest points during the season after ranking 22nd the year before, and surrendering just 8.7 points per game in the playoffs.
The Seahawks’ path was tougher on paper, coming out of a division that sent three teams to the playoffs and facing both the 49ers and Rams multiple times. Seattle conceded the fewest points in the regular season while scoring the third-most, despite quarterback Sam Darnold leading the league in turnovers. The connection between Darnold and receivers like Jaxon Smith-Njigba has been a major storyline, and Kenneth Walker’s running game is another key factor.
For Seahawks fans, there’s added narrative weight: since Malcolm Butler’s goal-line interception sealed Super Bowl XLIX for the Patriots, Seattle has sought redemption. The franchise’s longing for closure is often compared to other sports’ infamous moments — for example, the Bill Buckner error that haunted the 1986 Boston Red Sox until their 2004 World Series win. A Seattle victory would exorcise more than a decade of frustration for the fanbase.
Whichever team takes the Lombardi Trophy, the 2025 season will be remembered as one of surprises. It may not match Leicester City’s 5,000/1 Premier League fairy tale in 2015–16, but it’s a remarkable year in American football that will make next season’s preseason odds even more intriguing.
Watch the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on Sunday February 8. Coverage begins at 10pm live on Sky Sports NFL ahead of a kick-off at approximately 11:30pm.