When Super Bowl LVIII kicks off in Las Vegas this Sunday, not only will the spectacle be a testament to sports leagues’ embrace of a city they used to shun, but it will also spotlight the continued mainstreaming of gaming in America.
The matchup will be played in Allegiant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders. Twenty-four hours later, the NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights will play in their home arena just across the Strip. It’s no coincidence that at the same time as sports legal sports betting has expanded to 39 jurisdictions across the country, sports leagues and events have flocked to Las Vegas.
Accordingly, the first-ever Super Bowl in Las Vegas will coincide with Americans’ highest-ever interest in wagering on the Big Game. According to a new American Gaming Association (AGA) survey, a record 67.8 million American adults are expected to bet on this year’s game, up 35 percent from 2023. In total, bettors will wager an estimated $23.1 billion on the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.
Here are three big takeaways from AGA’s Big Game betting survey:
1. With the expansion of legal sports betting, traditional Super Bowl bettors are expected to outnumber casual bettors for a second consecutive year. 42.7 million American adults plan to place a traditional sports wager online, at a retail sportsbook or with a bookie, up 41 percent from 2023. Meanwhile, 36.5 million Americans plan to bet casually with friends or as part of a pool or squares contest, up 32 percent from 2023.
2. The expansion of legal sports betting is migrating Americans to the regulated market. During this year’s Super Bowl, two-thirds of American adults will be able to place a bet on the game in their state of residence. With legal mobile wagering available in 30 U.S. jurisdictions, AGA survey data shows that 28.7 million adults, or 11 percent, intend to place wagers using a regulated online sportsbook.
3. As Americans continue to move to the legal market, industry investments in responsible gambling are resonating. Driven by campaigns from the legal sports betting ecosystem, the majority of traditional Super Bowl bettors (75 percent) report seeing a responsible gambling message in the last year, up from 71 percent in 2023. Meanwhile, 47 percent of all American adults recall hearing or seeing a responsible gambling message in the past year, up from 40 percent last year.
While Super Bowl LVIII will mark a full-circle moment for the legal U.S. gaming industry, it also provides a reminder that all stakeholders must work together to build a safe, sustainable sports betting marketplace. It is incumbent on operators, leagues, teams and media to ensure we are providing the educational resources, tools and safeguards to equip consumers to bet responsibly. We’ve already made significant progress in each of these pillars in a still-nascent market, and the AGA is committed to continuing to lead these efforts as we work to get U.S. sports betting right.
