SportsHandle has reported that $400m could have been wagered on Super Bowl LVI by bettors in California and Ohio had sports betting been allowed to go live in both of those states.
This year’s Super Bowl takes place this Sunday between California’s Los Angeles Rams and Ohio’s Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, but sports betting is not live in the Golden State nor the Buckeye State.
SportsHandle’s Managing Editor and Sports Betting Legislation Expert Jill R Dorson and Legislative Analyst and Wagering Revenue Researcher Chris Altruda have compiled an in-depth report looking at how big California’s and Ohio’s sports betting handle could have been if the public in each state were able to wager on this year’s Big Game.
The analysis declared that California’s handle could have reached $300m with gross gaming revenue (GGR) reaching $21m, and the state potentially taking in $2.1m in tax revenue on a single event. Meanwhile, the handle in Ohio could have reached up to $100m, with GGR of up to $7m, and tax revenue of up to $700,000.
Both GGR projections come from using the industry-standard 7% win rate or “hold” that operators claim in wins against bettors from handle wagered.
The parameters of the research were: operators in both states were offering live, legal digital wagering with remote registration for at least one full NFL season ahead of the Super Bowl; a minimum of 10 digital platforms would be live; the game would be competitive into the fourth quarter; all wagering platforms and the live broadcast would not have any major technical glitches.
The tax revenue projections are based on a 10% tax rate, which becomes effective in Ohio when wagering goes live and is also California’s proposed tax rate put forth by a group of seven sports betting operators working to qualify an initiative for the November 2022 ballot.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine legalized sports betting in the Buckeye State when he signed HB 29 into law in December. State regulators are currently drafting rules, and the law calls for betting to go live no later than January 1, 2023.
As for California, a tribal retail-only sports betting initiative has already qualified for the November 2022 ballot.
There could potentially be three other proposals in the Golden State, one which is a proposal from a group of seven operators (including BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel) that would allow for statewide mobile wagering with a 10% tax rate.
