Sportsbook

Legal Super Bowl betting handle already tops last year´s total

Thursday 11 de February 2021 / 06:10

⏱ 4 min read

(United States).- We’re still waiting on more states to report, but legal Super Bowl betting already topped 2020‘s total.

Legal Super Bowl betting handle already tops last year´s total

o far, handle from 12 states plus Washington DC reporting full or preliminary results on Super Bowl 55 totaled $436.6 million:

State	2021 Handle	2020 Handle	2021 Revenue	2021 Hold	2021 Tax/State Revenue
Colorado*	$31,200,000	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Delaware	$1,900,000	$2,100,000	$226,000	11.9%	N/A
Illinois	$45,610,513	N/A	$7,659,269	16.8%	$1,148,890
Iowa*	$16,300,000	$6,500,000	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mississippi*	$8,000,000	$6,700,000	N/A	N/A	N/A
Montana*	$493,000	N/A	$11,000	2.2%	N/A
Nevada	$136,096,460	$154,679,241	$12,574,125	9.2%	$848,753
New Jersey	$117,400,000	$54,300,000	$11,300,000	9.6%	N/A
Oregon	$3,465,472	$2,000,000	$696,230	20.1%	N/A
Pennsylvania	$53,634,680	$30,693,942	$9,394,271	17.5%	N/A
Rhode Island*	$6,500,000	$5,500,000	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tennessee*	$15,427,000	N/A	$2,801,000	18.2%	N/A
Washington DC	$544,292	N/A	-$9,546	-1.8%	N/A
Total	$436,571,417	$262,473,183	$44,652,349	N/A	N/A

*Denotes preliminary results

Legal betting states reported more than $280 million in handle last year with the full US estimated around $300 million. PlayUSA expects more than $500 million in legal US Super Bowl bets this year.

Not every state will break out details specifically for the game. States that will not do so include:

Indiana

Michigan

There were seven additional legal jurisdictions taking bets this year, which led to more than three times the online betting transactions over Super Bowl weekend compared to last year. That number could have been higher had multiple sportsbooks not struggled with outages before and during the game.

Nevada leads Super Bowl betting handle

Even with travel and casino occupancy limited by the coronavirus pandemic, Nevada looks like it will again lead states in Super Bowl handle.

Nevada’s sportsbooks took $136.1 million in bets on the game, holding 9.2% for $12.6 million in revenue.

Handle fell 12% with revenue down 33% compared to 2020.

NJ, PA rank second & third

New Jersey‘s 12 retail and 21 online sportsbooks took $117.4 million in bets on the game, up 116% over last year’s total.

Sports betting revenue was $11.3 million, good for a 9.6% hold.

Even though online Pennsylvania sports betting transactions over Super Bowl weekend outpaced New Jersey by about 14%, PA’s handle was less than half of New Jersey’s.

Pennsylvania’s sportsbooks reported $53.6 million, up nearly 75% from 2020. Revenue was $9.4 million for a 17.5% hold.

Illinois takes vast majority of action online

Surprisingly, Illinois was the first state to report Super Bowl stats. That caught many off-guard considering the state’s gaming regulator is usually about two months behind others reporting sportsbook stats.

The legal IL sports betting market took $45.6 million in handle with 93.7% of all wagers coming online.

Sportsbooks made $7.7 million in revenue, good for an atypical 16.8% hold. That hold could be boosted by overconfident Kansas City Chiefs fans crossing into Illinois from neighboring Missouri to place their bets.

Delaware’s handle dips, but positive hold

Delaware took a total of $1.9 million in bets this year, according to Delaware Lottery Director Vernon Kirk.

That’s down from $2.1 million bet last year, though the Lottery turned a profit in 2021. Total win was $226,000, up from a loss of $229,000 last year.

Delaware’s three casinos reported $1.4 million in straight wagers with $132,000 in revenue. Prop parlay cards at lottery retail locations saw $264,000 in handle with revenue of $108,000.

Futures wagers at both casinos and lottery retailers totaled $217,000 with a loss of $15,000.

Oregon Lottery adds nearly 1,500 customers

There was $3.5 million bet through the Oregon Lottery‘s Scoreboard platform, operated by DraftKings-owned SBTech.

The sportsbook reported $696,230 in revenue, or a gaudy 20.1% hold.

Nearly 1,500 new accounts were registered on Super Bowl Sunday alone.

Others share Super Bowl betting numbers

Some states didn’t have formal reports ready with all the stats but shared some of their initial results:

Colorado sportsbooks took $31.2 million in bets, according to a Department of Revenue spokesperson. That includes $16.9 million in game day bets and $14.3 million in futures bets.

Sports betting in Iowa was live for Super Bowl 54, but the market looked much different. Iowa’s in-person registration law finally expired in January, which helped last month’s handle jump 42.7% over the prior year. Super Bowl handle also jumped in part to remote registration. Iowa’s sportsbooks took $16.3 million in bets, up from $6.5 million last year, Iowa Racing and Gaming Administrator Brian Ohorilko said.

Mississippi, which only offers retail betting and has rejected a full mobile expansion for years, took $8 million in Super Bowl bets, according to a Mississippi Gaming Commission spokesperson.

Sportsbook Rhode Island took around $6.5 million in bets, which is up from $5.5 million last year but flat on 2019‘s Super Bowl, which also included a Tom Brady appearance.