Rovell: A Bettor Could Win $400K If Mecole Hardman Is Named Super Bowl 54 MVP

Betting on the winner of the Super Bowl MVP has become one of the most popular prop markets for the Big Game, and with legal sports betting slowly earning a share of the mainstream sports market, it is probably the most talked about prop this side of The Gatorade Prop.

Patrick Mahomes is the consensus favorite to win the award, with odds as short as +100 at some sportsbooks, and for good reason. Quarterbacks tend to win these awards, 29 of 53 Super Bowls have ended with a QBMVP, and it's hard to envision a scenario where the Chiefs win and Mahomes isn't acknowledged as the game's most valuable participant.

Despite the short odds, Mahomes is still the most popular MVP bet at FanDuel in terms of both ticket count and actual dollars. The most popular 49er? Not, Jimmy Garoppolo believe it or not. It's tight end George Kittle, who is the second-most popular bet in both tickets and dollars. Garoppolo and running back Raheem Mostert round out the top four in this particular popularity contest.

Interestingly, none of those players carry the biggest liability at FanDuel. That honor actually belongs to San Francisco edge rusher Nick Bosa. No big bets have come in Bosa, but the liability still piled up and caused FanDuel to slash his odds all the way to 24-1 after opening him at 80-1.

PointsBet also reported that Bosa would be their biggest loser in the MVP, followed by Travis Kelce and Deebo Samuel, but they also could be exposed by a big game from a different longshot.

"We've seen a bunch of people take a flyer on Mecole Hardman," PointsBet's Patrick Eichner said. "He's got long odds, so I guess if he goes full Devin Hester we're in trouble. We have a couple of $300 bets that would win $14,000 on Hardman. That's about as far as people are willing to go, but he's definitely a popular dark horse."

Hardman is a trendy pick at DraftKings, too. So trendy, in fact, that the wide receiver represents their biggest liability for MVP betting thanks to a $5,000 bet at 80-1 odds. If Hardman wins MVP, that bettor would net $400,000.

Hardman's base salary for 2019 was $495,000.