Super Bowl LVIII wasn’t just a huge day for the Kansas City Chiefs and their patron saint, Taylor Swift. The Big Game was also a big day, a record-breaking day, for Nevada’s regulated sports betting operators. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Super Bowl LVIII action surged to an astonishing $185 million, a new record. It’s just one more sign that Americans are truly embracing regulated sports betting in a way that far surpasses its most ardent supporters wildest dreams.
As the bets poured in on game day, players pushed the handle past the previous wagering record of $179.8 million that was set back in 2022 ahead of Super Bowl LVI. As is so often the case with regulated sports betting, all that action only added up to a slight profit. Nevada sportsbooks’ hold from all those wagers was a mere $6.8 million. That number came close to another record, but not in a good way. It was the fourth-lowest hold on record for a single event.
Dr. Paul Carter, CEO of GWS, a company that monitors Nevada sports betting, chimed in the successful day in comments reported on by SBC Americas saying, “The Super Bowl is not just the pinnacle of the football season but is also consistently the biggest day of the year for mobile wagering. For many, watching football now goes hand in hand with mobile betting and the major betting platforms have quickly capitalized.”
Over at Legal Sports Report, Eric Ramsey pointed out that Nevada’s record-breaking was all the more notable due to the fact that the state is not served by major operators such as FanDuel and DraftKings, while also requiring in-person account activation. The bottom line here is that this record-breaking day could have been much bigger.