Record Number of States to Accept Legal Super Bowl Wagers
Since PASPA’s repeal in 2018, legal online and retail sports betting has grown in popularity nationwide. With increased national interest in sports betting, as well as increased accessibility, the number of Americans betting on the Super Bowl has skyrocketed in recent years.
Before last year’s Super Bowl game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams, the American Gaming Association (AGA) predicted that a then-record-breaking 31.4 million US citizens would wager approximately $7.61 billion on the Super Bowl. This means that the AGA predicted a 35% increase in Super Bowl betting from the previous year, a staggering increase in just a year.
Now in 2023, industry experts are anticipating that those figures will increase yet again this year.
The list of states where you can legally bet on the Super Bowl is longer than ever, thanks to the recent legalization of retail and online sports betting in states such as Maryland, Ohio, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Arkansas. With an unprecedented number of Americans now legally eligible to bet on the Super Bowl and a destigmatized attitude toward casual betting, industry experts are predicting another record-breaking year for legal Super Bowl betting.
Big-money Super Bowl bets are already coming in
On Saturday morning, BetMGM reported that a bettor in an undisclosed location wagered $1 million on the Eagles moneyline at -125 odds, which would pay out $1.8 million if the Eagles end up winning the Super Bowl.
Based on recent betting trends, other high-rollers across the country are expected to place bets in the seven-figure range this year.
PointsBet, an Australian online bookmaker making a name for itself in the United States, accepted a pair of $100+ bets on each of the Eagles’ and Chiefs’ backup quarterbacks to win the MVP award. This unidentified bettor wagered $100 on Gardner Minshew of the Eagles at +25000 odds and $136 on Chad Henne of the Chiefs at +10000 odds.
