Chiefs small favorites over Bucs in Super Bowl LV

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be the first team in NFL history to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium.

But playing at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, won’t be worth much to the Bucs in regard to the point spread for Super Bowl LV.

Las Vegas sportsbooks have installed the Kansas City Chiefs as consensus 3½-point favorites over Tampa Bay in the NFL championship game scheduled for Feb. 7. The consensus total is 57.

William Hill and Circa opened the Chiefs as 3-point favorites (-120).

William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich said home field for Tampa Bay is worth “a point or so” to the line. Westgate sportsbook vice president Jay Kornegay agrees.

“As a player, I would certainly rather play at home and sleep in my own bed. I wouldn’t want to travel,” Kornegay said. “I would think it plays a very small factor, whether it’s a half point or a point.”

Sunset Station sportsbook director Chuck Esposito and MGM Resorts director of trading Jeff Stoneback said the homefield advantage isn’t worth anything.

“I don’t think it’s really a factor at all in this game because it’s a Super Bowl and you’re not going to have your normal Bucs fan base there,” Esposito said.

The site of the game certainly didn’t stop BetMGM bettors from loading up on the Chiefs only minutes after Kansas City beat the Buffalo Bills 38-24 in Sunday’s AFC championship game. BetMGM took a $110,000 straight bet to win $100,000 on Kansas City -3½ over Tampa Bay and a $180,000 money-line wager to win $100,000 on the Chiefs.

A money-line bet is a simple wager on which team will win the game, with no point spread involved.

Kansas City erased an early 9-0 deficit to Buffalo before cruising to the cover as 3-point favorites. It was the first time the Chiefs had covered the spread since Nov. 1, snapping an 0-8-1 ATS slide.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady will play in his 10th Super Bowl after leading Tampa Bay to a 31-26 upset win over the Green Bay Packers in Sunday’s NFC title game at Lambeau Field as 3½-point underdogs.

Both conference title games went over the total.

Kansas City will try to become the first team to repeat as Super Bowl champions since the 2004 New England Patriots, who were quarterbacked by Brady.

The Buccaneers are making their second Super Bowl appearance. Tampa Bay, coached by Jon Gruden, beat the then-Oakland Raiders 48-21 in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.