Nevada Breaks Betting Records Following Super Bowl LVI
Super Bowl LVI By The Numbers
The Nevada Gaming Control Board announced record numbers for the state following the Super Bowl LVI matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams.
Nevada sportsbooks took in over $179 million in bets across all 179 Nevada sportsbooks on Super Bowl LVI, blowing out the previous record of $158.58 million wagered in Nevada during the Super Bowl in 2018. This $179 million handle gave Nevada sportsbooks a $15.4 million win (a hold of 8.6%), suggesting that a lot of sports fans wanted the Bengals to upset the Rams, which unfortunately didn’t happen. The $15.4 million win is the third-highest win amount for Nevada sportsbooks in the last ten years behind a $19.7 million hold in 2014 and $18.8 million in 2020. This is the 30th win for Las Vegas sportsbooks in the Super Bowl in the last 32 Super Bowls.
Days before kickoff on Sunday, Feb. 13, PlayUSA announced their projections for the gambling capital of the U.S. They projected a $175 million handle from Nevada which was more than they projected from the hottest sports betting market right now, New York, which they only projected $160 million from.
How The Silver State Pulled it Off
The record amount wagered is a 32% increase in amount wagered from last year’s Super Bowl, which was subject to far more Covid-19 restrictions than this year which is surely contributing to the big margin. The Nevada governor, Steve Sisolak, lifted the mask mandate in the state of Nevada just days before the big game. Not to mention the location, Los Angeles, California, home to the Rams and neighbor to Nevada definitely set the state up for success considering sports betting is illegal in the state of California.
The matchup in general also helped these sportsbooks to success. The favorite (Rams) won, the underdog (Bengals) covered, and the under (43) hit on an over/under of 48.5. The point spread came up to matter big time this year, though it usually doesn’t. The Super Bowl winner has covered the spread every year since 2009 when the Steelers failed to cover the spread against the Cardinals. This gave bettors plenty of hope that the Rams would cover or the Bengals would win. When neither happened, Vegas sportsbooks cashed out big.
But this increase definitely wasn’t a shoe in. With such a huge increase in states participating in the sports betting industry now, they may have lost many traveling bettors from states where sports betting is now legal, but they obviously made up for it. Since the last Super Bowl in 2021, ten states hopped on the sports betting bandwagon – Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Plus, New York just launched their lucrative online sports betting market and it took off. This makes for 30 states plus the District of Columbia, who participate in the legal sports betting industry today.
The Super Bowl came at no better time for the state which finished off their 2021 on a high note where they had three consecutive months (October, November, December) with $1 billion in bets wagered. In 2024, Super Bowl LVII is set to take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, and it will be interesting to see what sort of record they break then.