Super Bowl Betting Highlights Explosive Sports Betting Growth

The lead-up to Super Bowl 56 thrust sports betting into the public light. And as any gambling historian can tell you, the adage that all press is good press doesn’t apply to gambling.

Much like the daily fantasy sports (DFS) advertising blitz in the mid-2010s, you can’t avoid sports betting commercials. The ad campaigns are ubiquitous, and the mainstream press is helping amplify the media onslaught, posting eye-popping Super Bowl betting estimates from groups like the American Gaming Association (AGA) alongside cautionary columns from problem gambling groups and individuals.

• We Aren’t in Vegas Anymore
• Super Bowl LVI Is Poised to Be Biggest Bet Game in Football History
• Sports Leagues and TV Networks Like the Gambling Odds
• Super Bowl LVI expected to be most heavily bet game ever

These competing narratives, juxtaposing the popularity and opportunities of betting with the harms of gambling, will cause a stark divide around legal sports betting and, by extension, online gambling. The battle lines are being drawn.

Super Bowl Betting Numbers Help Tell the Story

So why all this attention now?

Super Bowl 56 was the fourth Super Bowl since the Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), ushering in the era of legal US sports betting. But 2022 appears to be the turning point or a tipping point, depending on your perspective.

The number of US residents with access to legal in-state betting options has grown significantly since 2019.

Super Bowl 53 took place on February 3, 2019. At the time, eight states offered legal sports betting options. Those states were Nevada, Mississippi, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, Rhode Island, and New Mexico. At the time, roughly 34 million US residents (about 10% of the total population) lived in a state where sports betting was permitted.

Super Bowl 54 snuck in before the COVID pandemic lockdowns, but even in February 2020, only 14 states had legalized sports betting. The new states were Indiana, Iowa, Oregon, Arkansas, New York, and New Hampshire. In February 2020, roughly 72 million Americans (20% of the total population) lived in a state with legal sports betting.

Super Bowl 55 was overshadowed by the COVID pandemic. At the time, 20 states and the District of Columbia offered legal sports betting, including the additions of Michigan, Illinois, Montana, Colorado, Virginia, and Tennessee. The number of US residents in legal sports betting states jumped to 108 million (nearly a third of the total population) for the 2021 Super Bowl.

And this year, legal sports betting was available in 30 states and the District of Columbia for Super Bowl 56. Louisiana, Washington State, Arizona, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Maryland, and Connecticut joined the ranks of legal sports betting states this time around. Now, 153 million residents live in locales with legal sports betting, a number fast approaching half the national population.

As a result, the majority of the US population found it hard to avoid sports betting commercials, radio spots, internet ads, billboards, and sponsorship messages.

Why The Growth Of Sports Betting Matters

The growth of sports betting and the missteps along the way have opened the industry up to criticism on several fronts:

• A lack of problem gambling funding
• Missed tax revenue projections
• Misguided promotions
• Sketchy business practices
• Increased calls to problem gambling helplines

With all of these storm clouds, the US gambling industry knows it’s just a matter of time before the crackdown begins (you can look to Europe to see what that will look like).

Further, it will make online casino expansion more difficult, as naysayers can point to the shortcomings of sports betting legalization to bad-mouth and dismiss online casino legalization. Sports betting isn’t going back in the toothpaste tube, but online casino is still in the tube, and that tube can get capped relatively easily.

And finally, online gambling is becoming a polarized issue. Gambling is one of the few remaining nonpartisan issues, but few remain undecided when the topic is broached. People with concerns about the above issues aren’t looking at it from a theoretical perspective anymore. They have stats and data and, of course, anecdotes.