While most state sportsbooks had a pretty balanced mix of Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles bettors during the Super Bowl, this year both Kansas and Pennsylvania operators experienced very outsized results thanks to the strength of each team’s fan base. It was a tale of two states, as one state’s bettors made bank while another state’s sportsbooks set records.
Pennsylvania sportsbooks rake in millions
According to numbers from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB), PA sportsbooks accepted over $84 million in action on the Super Bowl, up 23.9% from last year. The growth in handle was comparable from 2021 to 2022 but where the numbers skyrocketed was revenue.
With the Eagles both losing and failing to cover the spread, PA sportsbooks generated $29.7 million in revenue. Here is a look at the revenue generated in past years:
2022: $4.6 million
2021: $9.4 million
2020: ($3.3 million)
This massive uptick represents 35.3% hold on Super Bowl action compared to just 6.8% last year. The revenue generated from the Super Bowl this year surpasses the total amount of revenue sportsbooks generated across all of February last year.
Kansas sportsbooks had a rough first Super Bowl
On the flip side, Kansas sportsbooks were not exactly celebrating the first year they could legally accept wagers on the Big Game.
Per recently released information from the Kansas Lottery, the state accepted $24.7 million in Super Bowl-related wagers. Once those bets were settled, state sportsbooks ended up paying out a total of $39.3 million across retail and online sportsbooks. That put losses for the sportsbooks at just over $14.5 million.
For one bettor, the Super Bowl was the last leg of a three-leg parlay that also included Georgia to win the College Football Championship and the Houston Astros to win the World Series which paid out $30,000 on a $300 bet.
This comes off a tough January for sportsbooks that generated a hold percentage of just 3.6%, as it appears Chiefs bettors backed their teams throughout the playoffs up to the Super Bowl. January handle amounted to $206 million with a mere $7.2 million in revenue.
With more than double that in losses on the Super Bowl, February numbers could be even worse.
