Sportradar’s AI technology predicts Kansas City as top contender for pro football championship

The simulations, built on actual NFL data and team odds for winning the Super Bowl, estimate team strength and expected scoring.

Press release.- Sportradar’s AI-driven data simulations predict Kansas City as the most likely team to be crowned champions on February 9th, 2025, and in the process become the first to achieve a pro football “threepeat”. 

Following 50,000 simulations of the 18-week, 272-game regular season, Kansas City emerged as the champion in 7,105 instances, indicating a 14.2 per cent probability. This edged out San Francisco (12.6%) and Baltimore (8.0%) according to Sportradar’s AI model.

Sportradar leverages insights from its network of 900 sportsbook operators, inputting tens of thousands of data points into its AI algorithm to analyze historical data and predict future scenarios for the 2024-25 pro football season. 

The simulations, built on actual NFL data and team odds for winning the Super Bowl, estimate team strength and expected scoring. This model simulates upcoming games, updating team stats week-to-week, effectively navigating through the regular season and playoffs with a focus on empirical data.

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Additional 2024-25 pro football simulations performed by Sportradar included:

• Most Likely Championship Matchups: AI forecasts Kansas City vs. San Francisco as the most likely championship matchup (5.4%), followed by Kansas City vs. Philadelphia (3.4%), Baltimore vs. San Francisco (3.3%), Kansas City vs. Detroit (3.1%), and Cincinnati vs. San Francisco (2.6%).
• Most Likely First Team to Ten Wins: Teams that reach ten wins have a 95.3% chance of making the playoffs. Kansas City (15.1%) is predicted to be the most likely to achieve this first, followed by San Francisco (10.1%), Baltimore (7.7%), Detroit (6.4%), and Cincinnati (6.3%).
• Most Likely Strongest Divisions: AI simulations rank divisions by their win percentage against teams outside their division. Teams from stronger divisions often have better records, which can lead to higher playoff seeds and home-field advantage. The strongest are the American North (57.9%), National North (55.2%), American West (53.8%), and National West (52.2%).
• Team Most Likely to Win First Championship: Among the 12 teams that have never won a pro football championship, Detroit (6.6%) is the most likely to end the drought, followed by Cincinnati (6.0%), Buffalo (5.0%), Houston (4.9%), and Atlanta (2.6%).