For Super Bowl LIII, around $325 million was wagered legally in the U.S.. According to many accounts, over $6 billion in bets were seen between the legal and the illegal markets, although it’s difficult to know exactly how much would have been bet illegally. With more states now offering legalized sports gambling, the gambling industry is prepared to see gamblers begin to switch toward legal bets, and the hopes are that the legal industry will pick up at least $400 million, according to PlayUSA.com. A good prop bet for the upcoming NFL Championship would be an Over/Under on $400 million in legal wagers – the Over would definitely win.
There are now 13 states in the U.S. that allow legal sports wagers, giving access to over 70 million potential gamblers. The list includes Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia. Compared to last year’s legal market, which only included seven states, exposure to legal gambling has more than doubled.
Forbes sports reporter Kristi Dosh quotes PlayUSA.com lead analyst Dustin Gouker as explaining, “With the proliferation of legal sports betting across the U.S., there is no doubt that this will be a record year for legal bets on the Super Bowl. An interesting matchup that is nearly a pick ’em will help spur action, too. As a result, records in states such as Nevada and New Jersey, where both online and retail sports betting were legal for last year’s game, are also in jeopardy.”
With 70 million potential gamblers ready to embrace the big game, compared to the 30 million from last year, breaking the $400-million mark shouldn’t be difficult. Given that eight of the now legal states, Indiana, Iowa, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia, now allow online wagers, as well, the odds for the Over on a legal gambling market prop bet to hit become even greater.