A perfect storm
It’s a match made in heaven. The biggest game in American football is coming to the home of gambling. Super Bowl LVIII will take place at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas next year and it couldn’t come at a better time for the booming US sports betting market.
the highest number of wagers ever on a single sporting event
Legal sports betting is now active in more than 30 states across the US, most recently adding Kansas and Ohio to the mix. As a result, Super Bowl LVII reported the highest number of wagers ever on a single sporting event in the US, reaching as high as $16bn according to American Gaming Association (AGA) estimations.
Taking place in a state with legal sports betting for the first time in its history, Super Bowl LVII generated betting handle of more than double 2021. Now, with next year’s edition due to go ahead in the original home of US wagering, onlookers expect it will offer an even greater opportunity for sportsbooks in Nevada and even across the nation.
Into the Crystal ball
To get his insight into the potential of next year’s Super Bowl, VegasSlotsOnline News spoke to our old friend and Vegas industry veteran Stephen Crystal. The SCCG Management CEO believes that Super Bowl LVIII provides a unique opportunity, the likes of which has never been seen before in US betting history.
expect a Las Vegas-based Super Bowl to break all records”
He said: “Las Vegas has become the home of big events and there is none bigger than the Super Bowl. With sports betting exploding across the US, expect a Las Vegas-based Super Bowl to break all records for single event betting.”
“Las Vegas is always re-inventing itself. With Formula 1, the Super Bowl, and a U2 residence coming this year, we have become the number one destination in the world for blockbuster events. Viva Las Vegas!”
Year-on-year growth
It certainly seems Crystal could be right. The past three years of Super Bowl betting paint a very clear picture of growth, albeit with a slight dip amid the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (in-person sportsbook betting dropped 61% y-o-y).
From $6bn in the first year after the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act to $16bn in 2023, Super Bowl betting is on the rise according to AGA data:
Not only is Super Bowl betting growing, the gross gaming revenue (GGR) of Las Vegas, Nevada, and the entire US is also shooting skyward. Last year, Las Vegas surpassed its Asian gambling hub rival Macau for the first time in almost a decade for GGR. Nevada enjoyed its 22nd straight month of $1bn+ revenue in December, bringing the state total to an annual record of $14.8bn.
commercial gaming revenue reached record heights in 2022
Meanwhile, this week, the AGA reported that US commercial gaming revenue reached record heights in 2022. The nation’s casinos and sportsbooks hit $60.4bn in GGR for the year, up around 14% from the prior record from 2021. This was helped significantly by sports betting, which grew its revenue a staggering 73% year-on-year.
As Crystal says, while 2022 was a great year for Las Vegas, it seems the next two years could prove even more profitable for casinos and sportsbooks – especially when the biggest show in American sport rolls into town on February 11, 2024.