Vegas Dominates 2020 Super Bowl Sports Betting Handle
The numbers are in, and it’s as clear as day: The Super Bowl is a destination event for sports bettors.
As was the case last year, Nevada dominated the legal Super Bowl betting market. Based on the reporting we have seen so far, Nevada accounted for at least 50% of all money legally wagered on the game in the US.
Nevada sportsbooks also had a better day than their counterparts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. With the Chiefs come from behind victory, Nevada posted its second-best Super Bowl win, tallying $18.8 million.
Meanwhile, sportsbooks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania lost money on the game:
- Pennsylvania Super Bowl revenue: -$3.3 million
- New Jersey Super Bowl revenue: -$4.3 million
The culprit wasn’t savvy bettors; it was promotions. Sportsbook operators in both states have been wooing bettors with generous deposit bonuses and promotions.
Handle Was as Competitive as the Bears-Patriots Super Bowl
The discrepancy in handle numbers is going to be a shock to some, considering New Jersey is often neck-and-neck with Nevada in terms of the total monthly handle. But when it comes to a one-off event like the Super Bowl, the gap between the two markets is marked (New Hampshire and Oregon are included below for good measure).
Almost a New Handle Record
The $154.7 million wagered in Nevada isn’t a record, but it’s close (the record was set in 2018 when $158.6 million was wagered on the Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl), and it’s the second-highest total in Nevada history.
That’s an impressive feat considering Nevada was the only state with legal sports betting for the 2018 Super Bowl, and in 2020 it’s one of 14 states that offered legal sports betting on the Super Bowl.
Cannibalization Concerns Continue to Be Unfounded
And that leads to another interesting takeaway from the handle numbers, Nevada is putting up some really strong numbers despite customers having far more betting options closer to home. And not just for the Super Bowl. Month after month, Nevada is flirting with new handle records.
That would indicate that like poker before it, rather than cannibalizing existing markets, increased access is bolstering them.
It’s counterintuitive, but it’s a narrative not unfamiliar to anyone that has followed the US gaming industry for any length of time. The prevailing belief was sports bettors would choose the more convenient, close-by options to bet over Las Vegas.
That tired trope made Nevada casino owners hesitant to support legal sports betting efforts elsewhere and has been a major talking point to keep online poker and casino games in the prohibited column in far too many states.
But what the now thoroughly debunked myth never recognized was that convenience bettors were already betting; they were simply doing it illegally. There was no need to go to Las Vegas to place a Super Bowl bet. The people that were making super bowl bets in Vegas doing were casual and destination bettors.
Furthermore, the legalization of sports betting has led to a surge in popularity, for better or worse. Much like online poker did in the early- and mid-2000s, sports betting has increased the number of sports bettors, evidenced by the legal markets growing at a far faster rate than the illegal market is losing bettors.
Steve Ruddock is the content director for BettingUSA and the Editor-in-Chief of Gaming Law Review.
Steve has covered the legal and legislative developments in the US gambling sector for more than a decade for online and print publications.
