Nevada sports books took in a record 2.5 million in wagers on Super Bowl 50, in which the underdog Denver Broncos dominated the favored Carolina Panthers.
The betting amount surpassed the prior record of $119.4 million wagered when Seattle clobbered Denver by a 43-8 score two years ago during Super Bowl 48. Seattle’s upset of the heavily wagered and 3-point favorite Broncos in that game netted Nevada Sports Books a record take of 16.5 percent and $19.7 million, according to Nevada gaming regulators.
The majority of the betting public generally wagers on favored teams, and the Carolina Panthers opened as 4-point favorites, but quickly moved up to as high as 6-point favorites, before savvy bettors began wagering on the underdog Broncos. Many bettors also wagered the game would top 44 points.
By game time, most sports books had secured roughly equal wagering on either team, ensuring a nice take from the betting vigorish, as Carolina closed at 5.5 favorites in many locations. The Broncos won by a 24-10 score.
With the Broncos winning and the total coming under 44 points, most Sports Books finished ahead on side bets and total bets, in addition to profiting from the vigorish. The Nevada Gaming Control Board estimates Nevada’s 194 sports books kept 10.1 percent of the estimated $132.5 million wagered on the game, for a gross profit of $13.3 million.
The only wager that inflicted any real harm for Nevada sports books was the proposition bet on the game’s MVP. Some early bettors pounced on Broncos linebacker Von Miller as a likely MVP candidate, and early odds had offered as much as a 50-1 payout.
By game time, the odds greatly shrank, bottoming out a 12-1 on game day, which still provided a handsome payout for bettors wise enough to take the action. More bettors had picked Panthers quarterback Cam Newton as the game’s likely MVP than any other player.
Nevada sports books generally fare very well on the Super Bowl, which last inflicted a net loss on sports books in 2008, when they lost $2.6 million as the New York Giants defeated the favored New England Patriots by a 17-14 score.
Las year, Nevada Sports Books took in nearly $116 million in Super Bowl wagers, keeping 2.8 percent of the action.
While Nevada sports books took had a record take, gaming analysts estimate the total wagered legally in Nevada is less than 10 percent of that wagered illegally, via bookies and offshore betting sites.
Nationally, an estimated 47 million people wagered on the game, and President Barack Obama told TV interviewer Steven Colbert he was among them. Obama lost, having selected the Panthers to win and cover.
As the President and 47 million other U.S. citizens demonstrated, wagering on sports is a popular pastime in the United States, particularly on the Super Bowl and NCAA March Madness men’s basketball tournament.
About 80 percent of Super Bowl viewers questioned said they favor legalizing sports betting across the country, according to the American Gaming Association. Currently, federal law bans it outside of Nevada, Oregon, and Delaware, and Nevada is the only state to fully embrace it.
The gaming association announced it intends to study the impact of sports betting and establish a coalition tasked with finding legal alternatives at the national, state, and local levels.
