The Super Bowl could be breaking viewership records this year — and it’s also likely going to crush betting records.
According to a report by the American Gaming Association, a record 67.8 million American adults are projected to bet on Super Bowl LVII, which is over a quarter of the country’s adult population. Moreover, those bettors are expected to total $23.1 billion worth of bets for just the Super Bowl, which is up 44% from last year’s $16 billion.
The spike can easily be attributed to the growing sports betting market since the massive 2018 federal ban on sports betting was dropped, resulting into what’s now 39 states that have legal sports betting in some capacity.
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However, while the report shows that 42.7 million American adults will be wagering on a traditional online sportsbook, a majority of the $23.1 billion in bets is expected to be bet illegally.
The report said that only about $1.5 billion will be wagered through legal means, which is in line with the report from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a research firm focused on gambling and sports betting, that estimated about $1.25 billion in bets were going to be legal wagers.
There are several reasons for the gap.
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The first and most obvious is that there are several states that still have yet to legalize sports betting, two of which are some of the biggest markets (California and Texas). Bettors in those markets are likely finding other means — and not legally — to place a wager on The Big Game.
Many bettors are also skirting past the legal means in order to avoid taxes and other fees. Chris Grove, a partner at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming and longtime sports betting expert, told the New York Post that he thinks the regulated market will pass the illegal market eventually. However, he also believes there will always be a “substantial illegal market” because of the benefits, such as avoiding taxes and the ability to bet anonymously.
Which sportsbook are you using to bet on the Super Bowl? #SuperBowl
— TheStreet (@TheStreet) February 9, 2024
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