Las Vegas, a city already synonymous with monumental events and high-stakes excitement, has added another record to its storied history. The Super Bowl LVIII, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs crowned champions against the San Francisco 49ers, set a new benchmark for sports betting in Nevada. A staggering $185.6 million was wagered on the game held at the state-of-the-art Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, surpassing the previous year’s bets of $179.8 million. Despite the increase in betting, sportsbooks experienced only a 3.7% hold percentage, resulting in a modest total win of $6.8 million—since 2015, only three Super Bowl events have seen a lower win for the bookmakers.
Kirk Hendrick, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB), expressed gratitude to all involved, stating, “The Nevada Gaming Control Board congratulates and thanks all the stakeholders involved for successfully delivering such a spectacular event from the state of Nevada.” The numbers announced by the NGCB corroborate predictions by the American Gaming Association (AGA) which anticipated that Americans would wager an eye-watering $23.1 billion on the day of the game.
The findings from a survey conducted by the AGA, which involved 2,204 adults, indicated that a record-breaking 67.8 million individuals would place a bet, marking a 35% increase from previous figures. Within this gambling landscape, 11% of all Super Bowl bettors were expected to use a licensed online sportsbook, pointing to a continued trend of Americans embracing the regulated market.
GeoComply, a fraud prevention solutions provider, reported a significant 22.3% year-on-year surge in geolocation checks during the Super Bowl, peaking at 14.75 thousand transactions per second just before kickoff—almost double the previous year’s peak. This intensifying activity serves as a testament to the momentum towards a regulated, taxed, and safe betting environment within the United States.
The upward trajectory continued throughout the 2023-24 National Football League (NFL) season, with GeoComply customers registering more than 13.7 million new accounts, a substantial increase of 28% from the previous season. This explosion in betting activity coincided with Nevada’s announcement that its overall gambling revenue hit an all-time high of $15.5 billion in 2023, outstripping the prior annual record by 4.6%.
Sports betting also saw remarkable growth within the state; the total sports pool revenue for 2023 was calculated at $481.3 million, with mobile betting accounting for $240.7 million of that figure. Nevada’s burgeoning prominence in the sporting world is anticipated to further expand, with Las Vegas expected to host teams in the NFL, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball by the end of 2025.
In line with this surge of sports activity in Las Vegas, BetMGM’s chief executive Adam Greenblatt remarked that 2024 would be the year the operator aims to “unlock” the city. This past momentum was evident during the Formula One race in Las Vegas last year, which not only attracted 300,000 fans but also set a betting record for BetMGM, tripling the number of wagers taken compared to any previous F1 race.
Nevada’s success story showcases the steady shift in American sports betting habits—from clandestine to above-board, from physical bookies to digital platforms, and from mere entertainment to a significant economic force. As Las Vegas continues to evolve and the sports betting landscape further integrates with technology and regulations, one can only speculate on the new records and stories that will emerge from this glittering desert oasis in the years to come.
