How Much Money Is Illegally Bet On The Super Bowl
- How To Bet Money On The Super Bowl
- How Much Money Is Bet Illegally
- How Much Money Is Illegally Bet On The Super Bowl Wins
The Super Bowl is the most popular sporting event of the year. Millions of people watch the Big Game on TV and plenty of people wager on it, legally and illegally. It is expected that Super Bowl betting this year will once again smash records, as since last year’s NFL season finale 36 million more American adults have the opportunity to place legal bets in their home state.
Thanks to the tide of state-by-state legalization, the American Gaming Association says Super Bowl 55 will generate the largest legal single-event betting handle ever—but also projects, based on a survey conducted with Morning Consult, that the number of Americans placing a bet will drop 37% from last year to 23.2 million people, “almost. For many years, real money Super Bowl betting was confined to sportsbooks or it was done illegally, even as the game’s popularity continued to grow. Now, with the prevalence of Super Bowl betting online via sports betting websites, the process is much easier and safer for all bettors.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) estimates that 23.2 million people in the US will wager around $4.3 billion on this year’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A record 7.6 million people will bet with an online sportsbook, according to the survey. That’s a 63 percent increase year-over-year.
“This year’s Super Bowl is expected to generate the largest single-event legal handle in American sports betting history,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller in a press release. “With a robust legal market, Americans are abandoning illegal bookies and taking their action into the regulated marketplace in record numbers.”
Betting on the Super Bowl around the US
This year, more states than ever will take legal sports wagers on the Super Bowl. In addition to gambling on the Super Bowl in Nevada, sports fans can legally wager on the Super Bowl in the following US states:
And here is a state-by-state breakdown of if you can legally wager online and/or at a retail location.
| State | Online | Retail |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | No | No |
| Alaska | No | No |
| Arizona | No | No |
| Arkansas | No | Yes |
| California | No | No |
| Colorado | Yes | Yes |
| Connecticut | No | No |
| Delaware | No | Yes |
| Florida | No | No |
| Georgia | No | No |
| Hawaii | No | No |
| Idaho | No | No |
| Illinois | Yes | Yes |
| Indiana | Yes | Yes |
| Iowa | Yes | Yes |
| Kansas | No | No |
| Kentucky | No | No |
| Louisiana | No | No |
| Maine | No | No |
| Maryland | No | No |
| Massachusetts | No | No |
| Michigan | Yes | Yes |
| Minnesota | No | No |
| Mississippi | Yes | Yes |
| Missouri | No | No |
| Montana | Yes | Yes |
| Nebraska | No | No |
| Nevada | Yes | Yes |
| New Hampshire | Yes | Yes |
| New Jersey | Yes | Yes |
| New Mexico | No | Yes |
| New York | No | Yes |
| North Carolina | No | No |
| North Dakota | No | No |
| Ohio | No | No |
| Oklahoma | No | No |
| Oregon | Yes | Yes |
| Pennsylvania | Yes | Yes |
| Rhode Island | Yes | Yes |
| South Carolina | No | No |
| South Dakota | No | No |
| Tennessee | Yes | No |
| Texas | No | No |
| Utah | No | No |
| Vermont | No | No |
| Virginia | Yes | No |
| Washington | No | No |
| West Virginia | Yes | Yes |
| Wisconsin | No | No |
| Wyoming | No | No |
More money is legally wagered on the Super Bowl than ever before in the US and expansion outside of Nevada is still just getting started. Twenty-five states have legalized sports betting so far, with 21 markets currently taking wagers. Thirteen states have active or pre-field legislation to legalize sports betting.
This should continue to see wagerings on the Big Game increase as more states legalize sports gambling.
It’s all on the up and up
More and more, Americans are flocking toward legal sports betting options over oft-shady off-shore offerings and local bookies. The AGA reports that 65% of expected Super Bowl bettors say it is important for themselves to use a legal, regulated sportsbook to place their wagers.
In addition, 34% of Americans recall seeing responsible gaming messaging in the past year – up five points from 2020 – and 53% of Super Bowl bettors remember seeing responsible gaming messages.
“This data is an encouraging sign that our efforts to ground the expansion of sports betting in responsible gaming is taking hold,” Miller said. “Responsible gaming is core to legal sports betting’s long-term success, and this is borne out by continued demand for consumer protections only available in the legal market.”
The Super Bowl brings in a lot of betting action across the globe. The Nevada Gaming Commission reports the total amount of wagers taken on the Super Bowl at the state’s sportsbooks each year. Here’s a hint, it’s nearly as much as the amount wagered for the entire NCAA tournament.
This is the most accurate way to track betting on the game and the starting point for any estimates about the total amount of gambling done worldwide.
2020 Was a Big Year for Sportsbooks
The latest reports out of Nevada show the second biggest year in the history of the Super Bowl in both the amount wagered on the game and the amount made collectively by Las Vegas sportsbooks.
This is a little surprising as the Chiefs appeared to be the public favorites. A big portion of the wagers were likely on props and parlays, which are big profit makers for books, plus the over was also a very popular public wager that fell short of the number.
Most betting during the season is done on the spread and total, but prop bets and exotic wagers get a lot more action during the Super Bowl.
How Much Las Vegas Sportsbooks Make on the Super Bowl Wagers
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$154,679,241$18,774,14812.1%Kansas City 31, San Francisco 202019$145,939,025$10,780,3197.4%New England 13, LA Rams 32018$158,586,934$1,170,4320.7%Philadelphia 41, New England 332017$138,480,136$10,937,8267.90%New England 34, Atlanta 282016$132,545,587$13,314,53910.1%Denver 24, Carolina 102015$115,986,086$3,261,0662.8%New England 28, Seattle 242014$119,400,000$19,700,00016.50%Seahawks 43, Broncos 82013$98,936,798$7,206,4607.30%Ravens 34, 49ers 312012$93,899,840$5,064,4705.40%Giants 21, Patriots 172011$87,491,098$724,1760.83%Green Bay 31, Pittsburgh 252010$82,726,367$6,857,1018.29%New Orleans 31, Indianapolis 172009$81,514,748$6,678,0448.19%Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 232008$92,055,833-$2,573,103-2.80%N.Y. Giants 17, New England 142007$93,067,358$12,930,17513.89%Indianapolis 29, Chicago 172006$94,534,372$8,828,4319.34%Pittsburgh 21, Seattle 102005$90,759,236$15,430,13817.00%New England 24, Philadelphia 212004$81,242,191$12,440,69815.31%New England 32, Carolina 292003$71,693,032$5,264,9637.34%Tampa Bay 48, Oakland 212002$71,513,304$2,331,6073.26%New England 20, St. Louis 172001$67,661,425$11,002,63616.26%Baltimore 34, New York Giants 72000$71,046,751$4,237,9785.97%St. Louis 23, Tennessee 161999$75,986,520$2,906,6013.83%Denver 34, Atlanta 191998$77,253,246$472,0330.61%Denver 31, Green Bay 241997$70,853,211$2,265,7013.20%Green Bay 35, New England 211996$70,907,801$7,126,14510.05%Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 171995$69,591,818-$396,674-0.57%San Francisco 49, San Diego 261994$54,483,221$7,481,54113.73%Dallas 30, Buffalo 131993$56,811,405$7,174,86912.63%Dallas 52, Buffalo 171992$50,334,277$301,2800.60%Washington 37, Buffalo 241991$40,080,409$3,512,2418.76%New York Giants 20, Buffalo 19SEGMENTAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN30 Year Averages$90,335,376$6,840,1957.57%Average Last 5 Years$146,046,185$10,995,4537.53%How Much is Bet by State (Legally)
As more and more states start to legalize sports betting, we have access to data on how much action they taking in on the big game. Below are the reported numbers by each state on the Super Bowl.
New Jersey
The biggest handle outside of the desert comes in the Garden State. New Jersey’s handle on the big game was just shy of $55 million.
Considering their handle was up nearly 55% from 2019, it might not be long before they are up there with Nevada.
While New Jersey has to be excited about their growth, they did take a big hit. It was reported that New Jersey lost just under $4.3 million on the big game.
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$54,288,277-$4,280,000-7.8%Pennsylvania
The Keystone State had plenty of action on the Super Bowl with just over $30 million wagered. Unfortunately for them they too suffered a loss, losing $3.3 million.
Those in Pennsylvania took full of advantage of technology with 78.3% of the action taking place online.
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$30,693,942-$3,334,787-10.9%Rhode Island
There was $1 million dollars less bet on the Super Bowl in Rhode Island this year compared to last. In 2019 they reported $6.5 million bet with this year coming in at $5.5 million.
The decline certainly had a lot to do with the Patriots not being involved. The good news is that they were one of the few books outside of Nevada to show a profit.
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$5,500,000$805,0001.5%New Hampshire
We were able to find that roughly $2.31 million was put down on the Super Bowl in New Hampshire.
Considering the mobile DraftKings Sportsbook didn’t launch until December of 2019, we should expect a lot more money coming in in 2021.
As of right now we were not able to find if the books made or lost money on the big game.
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YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$2,310,000Delaware
Only $2.1 million was wagered in Delaware, largely due to the fact that they don’t offer mobile sports betting.
They reported losing right around $230K, for a -11.0% return.
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$2,100,000-229,000-11.0%Mississippi
The Magnolia State saw a decent uptick in money bet on the Super Bowl. It was reported that $6.7 million was bet in 2020, up from $4.7 last year.
Mississippi has not made their profit/loss available for the public at this time.
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$6,700,000Oregon
Out of all the states, Oregon had the lowest total of money bet at $2 million, but lucky for them they were able to show a slim profit of $150K.
How To Bet Money On The Super Bowl
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$2,000,000$150,0000.8%West Virginia
West Virginia had several books open right in time for the Super Bowl and the state was able to generate a handle of almost $4 million.
We don’t know if they won or loss money, but that’s a nice showing given players didn’t have a ton of time to get an account set up.
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$3,900,000Iowa
Iowa had a nice turnout on the Super Bowl with $6.5 million being wagered, but that’s about the only positive for the Iowa Gaming Association.
Given that Iowa shares a border with the home state of the Chiefs, they had a ton of action on Kansas City.
We don’t the exact numbers, but rumors are that Iowa took a big loss with the Chiefs victory.
YEARAMT WAGEREDBOOK W/LRETURN2020$6,500,000Many More Millions Gambled On the Super Bowl Illegally
So those numbers are just in Las Vegas. Numbers vary widely on the reports of legal, Las Vegas betting and illegal betting but most estimates think Nevada only pulls in 2.5% of the total action! So if this is correct then you can assume there is about 40x as much bet on the Super Bowl as what the numbers state above!
That is a lot of wagers that are being placed through bookies and online sports books.
If you aren’t in Vegas or another state where betting is legal but want to get action in on the big game, then I recommend you take a look at our 5Dimes review and our Bovada Sportsbook review as these are two of our favorites.
And if you want a better chance of winning see if any of our experts have a free pick on the game.
How Much is Bet on the Coin Toss?
Sportsbooks don’t released official numbers on specific props, so it’s really impossible to know exactly how much is bet on the coin flip or how many people bet it. It’s safe to assume it’s one of the more popular prop bets because it’s novel, cheaply priced, is decided quickly, and is virtually a 50/50 proportion.
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How Much Money Is Bet Illegally
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