Super Bowl LVII to see 68m Americans bet $23.1bn

Super Bowl LVII is just around the corner and just as the nation is holding its breath to see who will win the bout between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, attitudes are much laxer to spending on a wager to celebrate the Big Game and feel part of the action.

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has published a new estimate that predicts that a record 67.8m American adults will lay odds on the outcome of the Monday, February 13 contest with some $23.1bn expected to go down on various moneylines, in-play, proposition, and parlay selections.

This number far surpasses the $16bn reported last year in total sports betting handle, and AGA has gone into certain detail to better understand the sociology of sports betting on the Super Bowl. For this year, 42.7m people are expected to wager either online, through a bookmaker, or a retail sportsbook.

Another 36.5m will be placing casual wagers with or against their friends or family. In both cases, the numbers have increased significantly. AGA President and CEO Bill Miller has commented on the new members, and said:

"As the Super Bowl comes to Las Vegas for the first time, this year’s record interest in wagering marks a full circle moment for the U.S. gaming industry. Our priority remains to get this opportunity right by providing the consumer protections only a regulated market can guarantee and investing in responsible gambling tools, safeguards, and education."

Meanwhile, AGA has also taken stock of how far its responsible gambling messages have reached. For one, the association estimates that 75% of all Super Bowl bettors have seen a responsible gambling message in some form, or a slight increase from the 71% reported last year, but still relevant enough to indicate that AGA’s efforts have been headed in the right direction.

Presently, 38 states and Washington D.C. provide sports betting options, with a number of National Football League franchises already featuring in AGA’s efforts to promote a safer gambling message as part of the Have A Game Plan. Bet Responsibly. campaign launched by the association several years back.

AGA is also working to actively help make regulated and legitimate businesses more competitive and has raised concern over the reach of the offshore gambling market in jurisdictions which have already regulated sports gambling but continue to lose revenue and customers to the black market.

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