NEWSLETTER
The Super Bowl could break viewership records this year, and it's likely to smash betting records as well.
According to a report from the American Gaming Association, a record 67.8 million American adults are expected to bet on Super Bowl LVII, representing more than a quarter of the country's adult population. Additionally, those bettors are expected to total $23.1 billion in bets on the Super Bowl alone, up 44% from last year's $16 billion.
The increase can easily be attributed to the growing sports betting market since the massive federal ban on sports betting was lifted in 2018, resulting in what is now 39 states having legal sports betting in some form.
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However, while the report shows that 42.7 million American adults will bet at a traditional online sportsbook, the majority of the $23.1 billion in bets is expected to be wagered illegally.
The report says that only around $1.5 billion will be wagered through legal means, which is in line with the report by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a research firm focused on gambling and sports betting, which estimated that around of $1.25 billion in bets would be legal. bets.
There are several reasons for the gap.
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The first and most obvious is that there are several states that have yet to legalize sports betting, two of which are some of the largest markets (California and Texas). Bettors in those markets are likely to find other means, and not legally, to place a bet on The Big Game.
Many bettors are also evading legal means to avoid taxes and other fees. Chris Grove, a partner at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming and a longtime sports betting expert, told the New York Post that he believes the regulated market will eventually overtake the illegal market. However, he also believes there will always be a “significant illegal market” due to benefits such as tax evasion and the ability to gamble anonymously.
What sportsbook do you use to bet on the Super Bowl? #SuperBowl
— La Calle (@LaCalle) February 9, 2024
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