The Chicago Bears were one of the biggest surprise stories of the 2025-26 NFL season, cruising over their preseason win total of 8.5 and earning the NFC North division title and No. 2 seed in the NFC with an 11-6 record.
Earlier in the season, after an impressive 24-15 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday in late November, one bettor placed a large wager on Chicago to win its first Super Bowl since the 1985 season.
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After that win, a bettor at BetMGM in Illinois wagered $50,000 on the Bears at 66-1 odds to win Super Bowl LX. The bet would’ve won $3.3 million, and was the largest reported Super Bowl futures bet by total liability at any legal sportsbook in the United States. BetMGM moved Chicago’s Super Bowl odds as a result of the wager.
The bet already had survived the Bears trailing 21-3 at halftime in the wild-card round against the Packers — after Green Bay scored a touchdown on each of its first three possessions — before coming all the way back for a wild 31-27 victory.
The ticket was hanging by a thread again Sunday night in the NFC divisional round game against the Los Angeles Rams, as the Bears trailed 17-10 late in the fourth quarter. But on a fourth-and-10, Caleb Williams drifted backward and heaved the ball toward the end zone for a miraculous touchdown to force the game into overtime.
Williams was leading Chicago downfield before throwing an untimely interception. Matthew Stafford calmly led the Rams down the field and kicker Harrison Mevis nailed a 42-yard game-winning field goal to give Los Angeles a 20-17 win.
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The Rams moved on to the NFC championship game in Seattle, while the Bears will have a long offseason to think about what could’ve been.
Hopefully, the bettor was able to hedge to monetize an impressive futures wager.