Data from various sources have shown an increase in the number of U.S. residents betting on the Super Bowl, but the result may not have been favorable for sportsbooks in the country.
Geolocation specialists GeoComply reported a 14% increase in year-over-year active player accounts across online sportsbooks. In addition, over 720,000 new accounts were created across its operator partners. Just before the end of the second quarter, GeoComply recorded a peak of 14,300 geolocation transactions per second.
FanDuel revealed it took over 16.6 million wagers on the National Football League’s most significant game across nearly 3,000,000 active users. The tier-one operator reported peak activity of almost 70,000 bets per minute. In addition, the Flutter-owned operator saw over 2,000,000 fans make a pick in the free-to-play social game ‘Kick of Destiny,’ which saw promotional credits of over $10,000,000 dished out to customers.
Record-Breaking Wagering Numbers from Top Operators
Caesars Sportsbook and BetMGM reported that the Eagles’ 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs was the largest sporting event by number of bets in their respective histories.
Interestingly, Caesars added that it was the first Super Bowl in which more game parlays were placed than traditional straight wagers.
Caesars Vice President of Trading, Craig Mucklow, outlined that the Eagles’ early lead and subsequent victory delivered solid results for the operator. He said: “With the Chiefs falling behind early we observed a substantial handle and wagers increase on their chances of a comeback. A significant amount of wagers flooded in on KC at longer odds on the money line and all spreads we posted, all the way up to +28.5. This rare opportunity to bet on Patrick Mahomes at such generous spreads and odds proved to drive significant growth and led to our largest in-play handle for a Super Bowl ever.”
Analysts, however, don’t necessarily agree with the operators’ verdicts. Chad Beynon of Macquarie Equity Research estimated a below-average Super Bowl hold rate for operators of 0% to 5%, depending on the product mix.
Beynon suggested that same-game parlays and prop bets delivered a “slight positive” for operators, but the result was not ideal overall. He commented: “Although the game result represented our worst-case scenario previewed last week (Philadelphia and the over), we think the same-game parlays and prop bets were a slight positive for sportsbooks and will result in a positive market hold rate, with individual operator hold rates dependent on the degree to which (those bets) are represented in handle.”
The analyst also outlined that Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce’s failure to score touchdowns was of huge benefit to the sportsbooks. Both were prominent in player prop picks and same-game parlays.
Beynon did, however, say that the Super Bowl was highly positive in consumer acquisition and reaching different demographics: “Super Bowls are always great events for acquiring new customers, but with Super Bowl LIX likely setting viewership records, partly driven by over 60% of the U.S. population now having access to online sports betting, in addition to strong side stories (Taylor Swift and President Donald Trump’s involvement), we view Super Bowl LIX as unequivocally positive for the NFL and sportsbooks,”
When previewing 2026, Caesars Sportsbook has adjusted the Eagles from +700 to +625 to retain their title.
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