The Super Bowl and Las Vegas—perfect together? Well, the consensus is that it was a hit all across the board.
From an exciting finish—only the second time the Super Bowl had gone into overtime—to a record betting day, Super Bowl LVIII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers had something for everyone, as the Chiefs ultimately won 25-22 to secure back-to-back titles for the first time since the New England Patriots pulled off that feat in the early 2000s.
GeoComply, a company that provides location services for the vast majority of sportsbooks—but not including the Hard Rock app in Florida—says it located 22 percent more potential players than during the 2023 Super Bowl. Now that doesn’t necessarily equate to bets, but other numbers also show an increase.
Nevada recorded a record $185.6 million in sports bets on this year’s Super Bowl, with a profit of $6.8 million, a hold percentage of 3.7 percent, according to the Nevada Independent. The low hold rate was attributed to the fact that over 60 percent of bettors wagered on the underdog Chiefs to win or to cover a 2 point spread.
The game also set a record for viewership with 123.4 million people watching, according to broadcaster CBS. The demographics were also favorable to CBS, which attributed that increase to the attendance of pop star Taylor Swift, whose romance with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has captivated her fans everywhere. The network cut to her reaction to the team’s good fortune multiple times during the broadcast.
Las Vegas was a winner too, with more than 330,000 people coming to town to enjoy the experience, whether or not they had tickets to the big game.
Now Vegas is always a destination wherever the Super Bowl is played, but analysts claim that at least 10 percent more visitors arrived this year than in previous years. And they brought their money with them—at least five bets of at least $1 million were recorded at MGM Grand and Circa.
Ticket prices for the Super Bowl soared from the original $50 to more than $10,000 if you could find them. The average room rate in Vegas hotels topped $500, but plummeted in the days preceding the game.
Tickets to the Super Bowl Experience at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, which was an NFL- theme park with rides, attractions along with current and former players, were $50 with children under 12 admitted free. The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority issued a report that said the Las Vegas metro area would have a net revenue impact of almost $800 million, generating tax revenues of more than $62 million.
Like all Super Bowls, the game attracted many prop bets, along with the normal spread and money line bets. Caesars Sportsbook released the variety of wagers and how they stacked up for the winning bettors.
Nightclubs were one of the beneficiaries of the massive number of celebrities in town. Following the game, the Chiefs threw a victory party at the Zouk Nightclub at Resorts World, with the entire team in attendance, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, along with Kelce and Swift. The latter two ended the night at the XS nightclub at Wynn, dazzling the audience by mingling with the crowd rather than staying sheltered in the VIP section.
The odds for Super Bowl LIX were released immediately following the game, with the 49er being favored to win the next game at +575, followed by the Chiefs at +700 to pull off the “three-peat.”
