Super Betting

50 million Americans wagered more than $16 billion on the big game

Editor’s Note: This article was first published as a GGB News Special Report on February 10, 2023, two days before the Super Bowl

With Super Bowl LVII around the corner, football fans across America geared up to place their bets on the big game. According to new American Gaming Association (AGA) research, a record 50 million Americans planned to bet a collective $16 billion on the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.

This year’s Super Bowl, hosted in Arizona, was the first to be played in a state with legal sports wagering. 2023 also is the first year in which more than half of American adults (57 percent) have access to legal sportsbooks in their home state.

With the expansion of legal wagering, traditional Super Bowl bettors were expected to exceed casual bettors for the first time ever. Thirty million American adults planned to place a traditional sports wager online, at a retail sportsbook or with a bookie (up 66 percent from 2022), while 28 million planned to bet casually with friends or as part of a pool or squares contest (up 50 percent from 2022)— and of course, many did both.

These figures tell a familiar story: Americans want legal betting options and are taking advantage of the protections of the regulated market when they are available. Seven in 10 adults who planned to bet on Super Bowl LVII said it is important that they place bets only through legal, licensed operators, and that number rises to 74 percent among adults in legal sports betting states.

Legal wagering also continues to drive fan engagement with leagues, teams and media properties: more than a third (34 percent) of NFL fans say that the expansion of legal wa- gering has made watching an NFL game more exciting.

As the legal market grows, everyone involved in the sports betting ecosystem must maintain their commitment to providing consumers with the knowledge and tools to bet responsibly. The AGA is helping lead these efforts through our Have a Game Plan. Bet Responsibly campaign, which is bringing together the broader sports betting industry—including NFL team partners Washington Commanders and New York Jets—around responsible gaming education and messaging.

Importantly, the industry’s education efforts continue to resonate:

• The overwhelming majority of traditional Super Bowl bettors (71 percent) report seeing a responsible gaming message in the last year.

• Importantly, younger Americans (under 35 years old) are more likely to recall seeing a responsible gaming message and younger bettors are more likely to say it is important to

BY DAVE FORMAN

only wager legally.

By doubling down on our investments in responsibility, we will continue to build a safe, sustainable product that doesn’t repeat the mistakes that have impeded the long-term health of some overseas markets.

Find more Super Bowl LVII wagering trends below:

• Bettors were evenly split on the outcome of the game with 44 percent each planning to bet on the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

• Eagles and Chiefs fans were equally likely to bet this year: about one-third of each fanbase said they were wagering on the game.

• More women (11 percent) said they were betting this year compared to last year (7 percent).

• Gen Z and millennials were nearly twice as likely to bet as Gen X and three times as likely as boomers.

Dave Forman is vice president of research for the American Gaming Association.