When it comes to betting on sports, no other league has as much action or attention from bettors as the NFL. There is no shortage of bettors trying to win big with the help of point spreads, which are a crucial part of the NFL betting world. The most important question for many bettors when trying to decide which teams to bet on is, what is the highest point spread in NFL history?
Understanding Point Spreads
Before we can delve into discussing the highest point spread in NFL history, it is important that the uninitiated understand the concept of point spreads. A point spread is the difference between the amount of points an NFL team is given in the betting line and the amount of points the other team receives. These point spreads are set by oddsmakers and help to create a betting market in which a team may not be favored over another but will still be expected to cover the spread, which means it must win by more than the point spread.
The Highest Point Spread in NFL History
Since the point spread concept has a long history in the NFL and other sports, it has created some very high betting lines, including the highest point spread in NFL history. The record-holding point spread happened in the 1975 game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Redskins, when the Redskins were given an absurd 40-point advantage in the betting line.
Reasons for the Record Point Spread
At the time of the 1975 game between the Cardinals and Redskins, the two teams had polar-opposite levels of success. The Washington Redskins had won their first Super Bowl the year before and were seen as the unstoppable powerhouse of the NFL, while the Cardinals had posted the worst record in the NFL the year before. This disparity in success was the primary reason why the point spread ended up being so high.
What Impact Did This High Point Spread Have?
As could be expected, the absurdly high point spread for this game had an extreme impact on the betting market. In addition to a huge number of betting dollars being put on the Redskins to cover the spread, many bettors chose to avoid this game altogether since taking the Cardinals was seen as too much of a risk.
Did the Redskins Cover?
Despite the record-breaking point spread, the game between the Cardinals and the Redskins actually ended up being a surprisingly close affair. In a result that was probably surprising to many, the Cardinals only lost by 10 points, preventingoverwhelming majority of bettors from having a winning ticket.
The highest point spread in NFL history was an astonishing 40 points in the 1975 game between the Cardinals and the Redskins. While the spread was high due to the different levels of success between the two teams at the time, the game ended up having some close action and prevented most bettors from winning their money due to the Redskins only covering by 10 points. Despite this outcome, the high point spread will remain in the record books as a piece of NFL and betting history.
