According to the most recent unaudited numbers from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the US State of Nevada continued its record streak Super Bowl wagers as the state's sports books witnessed almost $158.6 million worth of bets on the game.
Betting on the 2018 NFL American football league's Super Bowl LII championship game of the New England Patriots versus the Philadelphia Eagles significantly grew by approximately 14.5%, as compared to the past year's $138.5 million in overall bets.
ESPN reported that there's some notable massive wagers for this year's Super Bowl, such as a $3 million bet placed on the Eagles to win the game as well as four other bets worth $1 million or more.
Senior research analyst with the Nevada Gaming Control Board's Tax and License Division Michael Lawton said that it's actually the third consecutive year for Nevada sports books to achieve a new record for Super Bowl betting. He explained the growth is connected to a strong economy, higher adoption of betting apps, and an overall increased interest in sports wagering.
Lawton said, "The growth we're seeing coincides with the growth in personal device wagering. It will be interesting to see how the numbers go from here on out since ... almost every operator has a betting app now."
Even though the total bets beat last year's record numbers; however, Nevada sports books barely scraped through. After posting a total win of $10.9 million last year, the total profit this year for the sports books was just around $1.17 million - which translates to only 0.7% of all wagers.
Lawton said that at that time, Nevada sports books were bracing themselves for an impending loss, something that has only occurred in 1995 and 2008, "What happened this year is that the public really got on the Eagles and bet for them to cover or win outright and the Patriots money just never came in to match the amount. They squeaked out a win this year."
The sports books won over $10 million on 3 of the past 5 Super Bowls, winning a record $19.7 million (or 16.5%) in Seattle's 43-8 upset of Denver in 2014.
Super Bowl bet profits of Nevada sports books, from Nevada Gaming Control
Year
|
Super Bowl
|
Score
|
Wagers
|
Win (%)
|
2013
|
XLVII
|
Ravens 34, 49ers 31
|
$98.9 million
|
$7.2 million (7.3)
|
2014
|
XLVIII
|
Seahawks 43, Broncos 8
|
$119.4 million
|
$19.7 million (16.5)
|
2015
|
XLIX
|
Patriots 28, Seahawks 24
|
$115.9 million
|
$3.3 million (2.8)
|
2016
|
50
|
Broncos 24, Panthers 10
|
$132.5 million
|
$13.3 million (10.1)
|
2017
|
LI
|
Patriots 34, Falcons 28 (OT)
|
$138.5 million
|
$10.9 million (7.9)
|
2018
|
LII
|
Eagles 41 Patriots 33
|
$158.6 million
|
$1.7 million (0.7)
|
Source:
http://www.igamingbusiness.com/news/nevada-sportsbooks-process-record-1586m-bets-super-bowl-lii