A record 31.5 million Americans plan to bet on this year's Super Bowl, according to estimates released Tuesday by the gambling industr...
A record 31.5 million Americans plan to bet on this year's Super Bowl, according to estimates released Tuesday by the gambling industry's national trade group.
The American Gaming Association forecasted that over $7.6 billion will be wagered on pro football's championship game set for Sunday.
Both the amount of people planning to bet (up 35 percent from last year) and the estimated amount of money being bet (up 78 percent from last year) are new records.
Bettors include people making casual wagers with friends or relatives, entries into office pools, wagers with licensed sportsbooks, and bets placed with illegal bookmakers.
'Americans have never been more interested in legal sports wagering,' said Bill Miller, the group's president and CEO. 'The growth of legal options across the country not only protects fans and the integrity of games and bets, but also puts illegal operators on notice that their time is limited.'
When the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals begin the game Sunday evening in the Rams home stadium, 30 states plus Washington D.C. will offer legal gambling.
General atmosphere on July 19, 2021 at the sportsbook in The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas
When the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals begin the game Sunday evening in the Rams home stadium, 30 states plus Washington D.C. will offer legal gambling
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (left) and his Rams counterpart, Matthew Stafford (right)
Gamblers have more access to legal gambling, thanks, in part, to an abundance of phone apps
Since last year's game, 45 million additional people will be able to bet on the Super Bowl because their states have legalized sports betting over the past year: Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The association predicted that:
- 18.2 million American adults will place traditional sports wagers online, at a retail sportsbook or with a bookie, up 78 percent from 2021.
- 18.5 million plan to bet casually with friends or as part of a pool or squares contest, up 23 percent. The association said there is some overlap among those two groups.
- 76 percent say it is important for themselves to bet through a legal operator, up 11 percent from last year.
- 55 percent plan to bet on the Rams, with 45 percent backing the Bengals. That contradicts data from numerous individual legal sportsbooks that shows more bets and total money being wagered on Cincinnati thus far.
Professional odds-maker Stu Feiner holds up a betting slip for $5000 USD on June 14, 2018 after placing a bet at the Monmouth Park Sports Book on the first day of legal sports betting in the state, in Monmouth Park in Oceanport, New Jersey. Now 30 states offer legal gambling
FanDuel, the official odds provider for The Associated Press, says 59 percent of spread bets are on Cincinnati to cover the 4-point spread as an underdog. Among moneyline bets that do not involve a points spread, 76 percent of bets predict the Bengals will win the game outright. Other sportsbooks report similar breakdowns on bets received thus far.
The Super Bowl is also one of the most perilous times of year for people with a gambling problem.
Harry Levant, a public health advocate from Philadelphia and a recovering gambling addict, is an official with the group Stop Predatory Gambling. He said the ongoing wave of sports betting advertising, and numerous incentives to get people to bet, is reminiscent of the tobacco industry's efforts to get people to smoke and continue to do so.
He said legal sports betting is increasing a public health crisis in America involving problem gambling.
'One out of two people struggling with a gambling problem contemplates suicide, and one out of five will attempt suicide,' he said. 'I am one of those one out of five.'
Levant said the rapid rise of in-game betting feeds into a compulsive gambler's desire for more and faster opportunities to bet.
'No longer is gambling limited to who's going to win the game,' he said. 'Now gambling is on every play. Keep them gambling, keep chasing action.'
There is a national help line for people with a gambling problem, or who think they might have one: 1-800-GAMBLER.
A gambler makes a sports bet at Bally's casino in Atlantic City New Jersey, September 5, 2019. A record 31.5 million Americans plan to bet on this year's Super Bowl, according to the gambling industry's national trade group. The American Gaming Association on Tuesday
No comments