The American Gaming Association is anticipating a record-breaking Super Bowl LVII in terms of betting, with initial projections showing that around 20% of American adults could place a bet on The Big Game.
Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles takes place this Sunday and the AGA anticipates that the game could be one of the biggest in terms of betting handle.
The AGA conducted a survey in association with Morning Consult, surveying 2,199 adults between Jan. 31 – Feb. 1, 2023, weighting out factors such as gender, race, age, and so on.
Projections have revealed that over 50 million Americans plan on betting on Super Bowl LVII, with around $16bn expected to be wagered – over double last year’s estimates.
Since Super Bowl LVI, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio and Massachusetts have launched some form of legalized sports betting, adding to the number of people who can legally wager on the game.
This means that 57% of Americans now live in a state that has some form of legalized sports betting.
With Super Bowl LVII taking place in Arizona – the first time it has been held in a legal sports betting state – many observers anticipate a huge fixture for betting.
“Every year, the Super Bowl serves to highlight the benefits of legal sports betting: bettors are transitioning to the protections of the regulated market, leagues and sports media are seeing increased engagement, and legal operators are driving needed tax revenue to states across the country,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller.
For the first time ever, the survey revealed that more Americans plan on placing a traditional online sports bet than placing a bet between friends or via pools.
Traditional online betting is set to attract 30 million Americans, compared to the 28 million who plan to casually bet with friends or as part of a pool.
The survey also revealed that legalized betting is increasing engagement with the NFL more generally, with 34% of those surveyed who are NFL fans saying that the expansion of legal sports betting has made watching an NFL game more exciting.
In terms of picking a favorite between the Chiefs and the Eagles, bettors are evenly split between the two hopefuls, with both teams gaining the support of 44% of those surveyed and the other 12% are undecided.
Despite the fun of betting on Super Bowl LVII, the AGA noted that responsible gaming is important to sports fans ahead of the Big Game.
From those surveyed, 71% recall consuming responsible gaming messaging in the last year with those aged under 35 more likely to have seen such RG material.
The AGA continues to promote its Have A Game Plan initiative to remind players to gamble responsibly and promote RG tools within sportsbook apps.
Have A Game Plan has a number of operating partners including sportsbooks, sports leagues and sports teams including NFL franchises such as Washington Commanders and New York Jets.
Miller added: “As interest in legal sports betting continues to expand, the gaming industry remains committed to responsibly delivering world-class entertainment, educating consumers about how to bet responsibly, and combating illegal gambling as we work to build a safe, competitive and sustainable legal market for all.”
Geolocation data backs up excitement
Reinforcing the notion of Super Bowl excitement, GeoComply has released data pertaining to the Super Bowl that suggests the Big Game will be record-breaking.
The geolocation tech firm revealed that it anticipated over 100 million customer betting sessions over the Super Bowl weekend, up 25% from the Super Bowl last year.
The firm also described that cross-border betting is big business ahead of Super Bowl LVII, with more than one million attempts by Kentuckians to access Ohio online sportsbooks since Jan. 1, one of the key findings. In January alone, 2,000 unique accounts physically crossed the Kentucky border into Ohio to place bets approximately 7,700 times
There is a similar story in Missouri too, which is pertinent given that the Kansas City Chiefs are in the Super Bowl. GeoComply has blocked over nine million attempts to access legal sportsbooks from other states since the start of the Super Bowl.
On the day of the Bengals vs Chiefs, there were 1.14 million geolocation checks in Kansas, with 236 accounts traveling from Missouri border towns into Kansas to place wagers.
