'Mahomes over 4.5 yards on his first rush,' Salmons announced. On the Chiefs' third offensive play from scrimmage, quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled to his left and rushed for a first down. It was a combination of the SuperBook team discussing specific plays, graded results, game observations and random outbursts.

The broadcast play-by-play was muted to make room for sportsbook play-by-play. This went on for the entirety of my first-half visit behind the book. ' Fournette’s first rush is 3 yards. Third-down pass, incomplete. Buccaneers to punt first.' Quarterback Tom Brady took the snap and completed a short pass to receiver Chris Godwin.

Tampa Bay’s offense took the field at its 23-yard line. The coin landed on 'heads,' and Kansas City deferred to the second half. The opening coin toss is one of the most popular props across the world. There is no room for side conversations during the Super Bowl.Īs team captains of the Bucs and Chiefs met at midfield, it was time to grade the first prop bet. 'When the game starts, the only conversation is here,' Salmons said as the National Anthem was about to begin. He’s Chief NFL at the SuperBook and has been doing this for 30 years in Vegas. It was like a scene out of a Star Wars movie.ĭecked in a creamsicle-colored shirt buttoned at the wrists, Vice president of Risk Management Ed Salmons was clearly running point. There are four positions on each side of the room, and all voices bounce back toward the middle.įor this Super Bowl, each masked and socially distanced staffer sat at a plexiglassed position with four computer screens - two to view and grade wagers, another to scroll through Twitter for breaking injury news and the fourth to confirm exact play results and stats. The SuperBook’s rectangular trading room is decked out with 13 large television monitors and 32 computer screens. Many of those wagers are graded in the first quarter or first half. After all, grading hundreds and hundreds of propositional bets takes a ton of teamwork. Eight SuperBook staffers were bracing for more than five hours of clicking and scrolling during and following the NFL title game. This is where a sportsbook creates its numbers and manages all the risk. He unlocked the door and walked me past the ticket writers and counter positions, down a hallway that leads into the heart of the sportsbook - the trading room. I met sportsbook director John Murray near the entrance to the back about 15 minutes prior to the 3:30 p.m.

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