AGA: Record Number of Americans Bet On The Super Bowl Online

This weekend’s Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be a record-setter in the sports betting world. According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), 23.2 million Americans plan to bet $4.3 billion on the game, and nearly one-third of bettors (7.6 million) plan to do so through online sportsbooks.

The online portion is almost certain to shatter any previous record, with the projected figure set to represent a 63% year-over-year increase. This growth is attributable to seven new jurisdictions entering the legal US sports betting landscape since last year’s matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs. With the new additions, legal sports betting’s reach has increased to 36 million new residents in Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington DC.

“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 Tuesday. Miller also lauded Americans for taking advantage of the boom in legalized sports betting, favoring regulated action to that of illegal bookies.

Super Bowl Betting Takes a COVID-Sized Hit

Approximately $6.8 billion was wagered on last year’s Super Bowl between the Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, nearly $2.5 billion more than is expected this year.

That drop can be traced to COVID-19 and its related restrictions. According to the AGA survey, retail sportsbooks will be hit the hardest, as only 1.4 million Americans plan to bet in-person at a sportsbook, a number down some 61% from last year.

Other casual bets made in social settings such as squares and pools are also expected to see significant declines of around 18% from last year. That can be chalked up to restrictions on gathering size at bars, restaurants, and homes, all of which would normally be venues for Super Bowl parties. Further, the AGA survey indicates the number of players planning to place a bet with a bookie will drop 21%, likely due to a mixture of the COVID restrictions mentioned above and an increase in legal betting options.

On that last point, nearly two-thirds of expected Super Bowl bettors surveyed now think it is important to use a legal, regulated sportsbook to place their bets. COVID-19 has played a large role in shifting players’ betting patterns, though online sports betting is also becoming far more commonplace as a whole at the same time.

AGA research confirms this, citing the growth in both awareness and availability of legal betting.

Responsible Gaming Messaging Is Getting Through

There has also been a focus on betting responsibly. According to the AGA, 34% of Americans polled remember seeing messaging on responsible gaming in the past year. That’s up 5% from the year before. 

Furthermore, Super Bowl bettors were even more exposed to this messaging. In a study involving nearly 2,200 participants (n=2,198) of all backgrounds, ages, races/ethnicities, and preferred means of betting, 53% of the sample population said they had seen responsible gaming messaging in the past year.

Miller finds these numbers encouraging, especially with new markets continuing to open nationwide. According to Miller, treating sports betting as a form of responsible gaming is paramount sustainably.  This messaging also coincides with the AGA’s Have A game Plan Bet Responsibly campaign meant to focus on precisely the same subject matter – educating fans on responsible sports betting.

Twenty-one legal sports betting markets are now operational, with five legal jurisdictions having passed legislation and waiting to launch. On top of that, 14 more are actively or soon-to-be actively filing legislation to join the party.

To keep up with growing markets, the AGA continues to increase its partnerships in the initiative. It recently added the PGA TOUR to its list of partners in the program that already included the National Hockey League (NHL), NASCAR, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, and the Vegas Golden Knights.