The weekend’s Super Bowl matchup may have drawn yawns from some Americans, who will tune in just to be entertained by the commercials. But for sportsbooks, the Rams-Bengals clash will set a record. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), 31.4 million Americans will fork over a record $7.6 billion in wagers on the Big Game.
Due to the growth of legal sports betting, both in person and online, the volume of bets could jump 35 percent year over year, while the handle should climb 78 percent.
Seventy-six percent of prospective bettors declared it was important wager through a legal sportsbook rather than illegal channels, an 11 percent increase year over year. In addition to legal sportsbooks and illegal bookies, bettors also included people making casual wagers with friends or relatives and in office pools.
“Americans have never been more interested in legal sports wagering,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “The growth of legal options across the country not only protects fans and the integrity of games and bets, but also puts illegal operators on notice that their time is limited.”
Some 30 states plus Washington D.C. offer legal sports gambling, including 10 new states. In other stats:
- 2 million American adults will place traditional sports wagers online, at a retail sportsbook or with a bookie.
- 5 million plan to bet casually with friends or as part of a pool or squares contest, up 23 percent. The association said there is some overlap among those two groups.
- 76 percent of bettors say it is important for themselves to bet through a legal operator, up 11 percent from last year.
- As to favored teams, 55 percent planned to put their dough on the Rams. Many legal sportsbooks indicated more bets and total money being wagered on Cincinnati.
FanDuel, the official odds provider for the Associated Press, reports that 59 percent of bets were on Cincinnati to cover the four-point spread as an underdog. As for moneyline bets with no spread, before the game 76 percent favored the Bengals.
“You have a young guy like Joe Burrow, the Bengals quarterback, and a big market like Los Angeles,” said AGA senior director, research David Forman during a phone interview. “The playoffs have been extremely exciting, and you have more widespread availability of legal betting and that all comes together to create a lot of enthusiasm and expectation for the game this year.”
Forman added that last year’s numbers were still impacted somewhat by Covid-19.
“Last year we only had 21 legalized states. This year we’re at 31,” counting the District of Columbia. “Between the people living in new markets and the people in existing markets who are now more aware of all their legal betting options and jumping on that bandwagon goes a long way to explaining why so many more people are going to bet this year, especially placing traditional bets with legal bookmakers.
“It’s encouraging that (legal sports betting on the Super Bowl) keeps going up every year. I think that a big part of that is consumers becoming more aware that there are legal and illegal sportsbooks and that they have an option.”
But the Super Bowl is one of the most perilous times of year for those suffering from a gambling problem. Harry Levant, a public health advocate from Philadelphia and a recovering gambling addict, is an official with the group Stop Predatory Gambling. He said the rising tide of sports betting advertising, with numerous incentives, reinforces the issue. “One out of two people struggling with a gambling problem contemplates suicide, and one out of five will attempt suicide,” he said. “I am one of those one out of five.”
In-game betting makes the situation even worse for a compulsive gambler.
“No longer is gambling limited to who’s going to win the game,” Levant added. “Now gambling is on every play. Keep them gambling, keep chasing action.”
The prediction of record wagers will be accompanied by an advertising blitz plugging various sportsbooks. Caesars Sportsbook and DraftKings expected to run ads during the game. FanDuel launched a new campaign the week leading up to the game, according to Legal Sports Report.
During games, the NFL permitted up to six sportsbook ads per broadcast. Caesars spent a leading $73.1 million, according to Ad Age. FanDuel was second at $47.3 million.
Meanwhile, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale couldn’t make a legal bet in his hometown of Houston, Texas, so off he went to Louisiana, where he aimed to place the largest legal sports wager in U.S. history. Since mobile sports betting just became legal in Louisiana, he just had to cross the border to make his mobile bet.
“Louisiana just became legal about three weeks ago, so it makes it real convenient for me,” Mack said. “But placing this bet in LSU country where they love Joe (Burrow) also figured into it. Tons of LSU fans are coming out for this promotion where if Joe wins the Big Game, they get the furniture free.”
At a rest stop in Vinton, Louisiana, Mack placed a Caesars Sportsbook mobile app and placed $5 million on Bengals moneyline +170 against the Rams in Super Bowl LVI. He had wagered $4,534,000 on Cincinnati +170 last week at Caesars, staking a total of $9,534,000 for a potential win of $16,207,800.
Mack came up a loser as the Rams squeaked out a win in a game you want every Super Bowl to be. Back-and-forth action, attention riveted to prop bets, and a game that will be remembered for years. Visit GGBNews next Monday for a full report on the betting action and the winners and losers—on and off the field.
