Super Bowl is in a betting state for the first time

On Feb. 12, Super Bowl LVII will be played at State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix-area community of Glendale, marking the first time the nation’s highest single-game sports wagering event will take place in a state that offers legal and regulated sports betting.

It was inevitable that wagering eventually would collide with the NFL’s annual championship game after the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that tossed out the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), effectively ending a 25-year-old freeze on sports betting expansion and allowing more states to legalize the activity.

Many sports betting observers see this year’s game as a prelude to next year when Las Vegas hosts Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. The annual NFL championship game is one of the year’s biggest weekends on the Strip. Last year’s Super Bowl in Los Angeles attracted a record $179.8 million in wagers in Nevada, smashing the four-year-old previous record by more than $21 million.

For Joe Asher, who previously owned the sports betting business that sought to expand wagering to Delaware in 2009, having the Super Bowl in Arizona where the activity has been legal since September 2021, marks an evolution by the NFL “that is nothing short of remarkable.”

The NFL, once opposed to even the mention of Las Vegas in advertisements during the Super Bowl, now has sports betting partnerships with DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM, while 20 of the league’s 32 teams play home games in legal sports betting states.

“The number one surprise to me is how firmly and quickly the league embraced sports betting,” said Asher, who has been president of sports betting for International Game Technology (IGT) since 2021. “It's notable from the perspective of how things continue to evolve. There’s (mobile) sports betting going on in stadiums during football games. Of course, this is just a much bigger game.”

Sports venues in Phoenix are home to retail sportsbooks managed by three of the largest national sports betting operators, including BetMGM’s sportsbook and restaurant on the grounds of State Farm Stadium.

Sports betting consultant Sara Slane thinks the lure of the Super Bowl is a reason why BetMGM, the sports betting subsidiary of MGM Resorts International, sought a partnership with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, whose home games are played at the stadium.

“The Super Bowl was always going to be there and that was a very attractive proposition, especially if you’re trying to acquire customers and get people to sign up for your mobile app,” Slane said.

Arizona is the first of three states with legal sports betting that will host the Super Bowl. After Las Vegas, the 2025 Super Bowl heads to Louisiana, where the game will be played in New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome – the first time the game is at a venue named for a gaming company.

Chris Krafcik, an analyst with Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, said Arizona’s less-than-2-year-old sports betting market will see elevated levels of promotional activity leading up to the Super Bowl, especially from the state’s market leaders.

BetMGM has scheduled a concert near the stadium featuring country music icon Tim McGraw on the Saturday before the game. FanDuel is sponsoring a live television commercial during the game’s halftime show featuring former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski as he attempts to kick a field goal. Any FanDuel customer with a Super Bowl wager of at least $5 will win a share of $10 million in free bets if the former NFL standout – and frequent Vegas nightclub celebrity — actually takes part in the stunt.

“The Super Bowl is a massive customer acquisition event, so we expect elevated levels of promotional activity prior to and during the game,” Krafcik said. “This year's promotional environment, however, has a distinctly different feel to it. Operators, more than at any point in the post-PASPA era, will be facing the dual challenges of maintaining cost discipline and addressing increased regulatory scrutiny around marketing.”

In its most recent monthly report on the nation’s sports betting industry, Eilers & Krejcik referred to Arizona as one of the “fastest-ramping sports betting markets.” Through November, Arizona sportsbooks have seen total wagers of $5.46 billion, of which almost 99 percent comes from mobile sports betting. Revenue from the wagers was $424.6 million.

Slane noted the Super Bowl is taking place the same weekend as the Waste Management Phoenix Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Scottsdale. Unlike the staid atmosphere at most other PGA events, the Phoenix golf tournament is a raucous affair that often resembles a wild outdoor cocktail party. Grandstands and stadium bleachers surround several of the holes.

In December, DraftKings broke ground on a 12,000-square-foot sportsbook and restaurant near the entrance to TPC Scottsdale. The company is expected to have a presence at the golf tournament.

Meanwhile, FanDuel’s sportsbook at Footprint Center, home to the Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, and the Caesars Sportsbook at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks, are expected to sponsor events at their venues.

“You can’t avoid it. This is going to be a big weekend for the books,” Slane said.

Asher, who oversaw sports betting giant William Hill US before its sale in 2021 to Caesars Entertainment, said the Las Vegas Super Bowl Host Committee, which is headed by Allegiant Airlines CEO Maurice Gallagher and Las Vegas Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan, would be well-represented at the game, gathering information for next year.

“It makes sense because the next Super Bowl will be big for Las Vegas,” he said.