6 Facts About Betting On The Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is the biggest entertainment and sporting event of the year in America. Watched by over a hundred million people, it’s a cultural cornerstone that gets talked about more and more eve-ry year. This year’s event, set to take place on February 7 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida will be the first since the COVID-19 pandemic started, so there will no doubt be some im-portant and necessary changes that viewers at home will notice. Thankfully though, the event is still able to go ahead and in the run-up to it, there will no doubt be lots of people placing bets on who they think will win. Here are some facts about betting on the Super Bowl in recent years.

Money Wagered

Super Bowl LIV saw the Kansas City Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers and attracted some 102 million viewers. It’s been estimated that more than $400 million was legally wagered on the match – more than was wagered in any other year. It’s likely that the 2021 match, Super Bowl LV, will have even more money wagered on it, especially since more states are legalizing online sports betting. Given how many states are yet to allow sports betting, there’s the potential for over betting on the Super Bowl to reach over $1 billion in a few years’ time.

The Super Bowl vs The FIFA World Cup

The Super Bowl is undoubtedly the biggest sporting event in the US. However, when it comes to betting figures, it’s not the biggest in the world: the FIFA World Cup is. The international soccer competition includes several dozen teams from around the world and takes place every four years. Since this tournament is more of a global event, it should come as no surprise that more money is wagered on it than the Super Bowl.

Betting Options

When it comes to betting on the Super Bowl, it goes without saying that the biggest bet you can place is for the winning team. While most people favor this bet above all others, there are lots of other options available for those who want other ways of potentially making some money. Some of the many ‘prop bets’ that have been offered over the years include: the first beer commercial to be shown during half-time, who will tackle a fan first if they run onto the field, what will be the half-time performer’s first song and who the MVP (the recipient of the Most Valuable Player award) will thank first.

Profitable Bets

Super Bowl matches can be very close and this is often reflected in the betting odds. Oftentimes, the odds for the two teams will be quite close and even if you happen to have backed the winning team, you may not make that much of a profit. The bets with the best money-making opportunities are some of the more obscure ones – ‘prop bets’, as mentioned above. Some of these can be very profitable indeed, though the chances of them paying out can be very slim. Examples of high-paying bets offered in Super Bowl LIII include +15000 for the Rams to score exactly 3 points, +3000 for exactly one touchdown scored throughout the entire match and +6000 for the Patriots to win by exactly 9 points.

Number of Americans Placing Bets

Prior to last year’s Super Bowl, it was estimated that some 26 million Americans were planning on betting on it. This figure is roughly 3 million greater than the number of people who placed wagers on the previous year’s Super Bowl. Because online sports betting hasn’t been legalized in many states, many people will be placing their bets illegally – throughout America, even in states where online gambling hasn’t been formally legalized, very few people have ever been arrested for gam-bling over the internet. Law enforcers prefer to crack down on the operators of illegal sites, rather than the people using them.

A Healthy Profit for Nevada

Nevada is known for its multitude of gambling opportunities. After all, it’s home to the city of Las Vegas, where many of the world’s biggest, most popular casino resorts can be found. Sports betting is very popular here and when it came to Super Bowl LIV, Nevada sportsbooks took $154.6 million in bets from keen punters hoping to make a few bucks or more. These sportsbooks ended up mak-ing an impressive profit of $18.7 million. Both of these figures weren’t record breakers – Nevada sportsbooks made $19.6 million from Super Bowl XLVIII – but they continue to cement the state’s reputation as the center for sports betting in the US.