Matt Bastock Gambling Expert
Matt is a casino and sports betting expert with over two decades' writing and editing experience. He loves getting into the nitty gritty of how casinos and sportsbooks really operate in order to make solid...
Read Full BioUS sportsbooks enjoyed a big win on Super Bowl Sunday, led by sports betting giant DraftKings, which took in a daily record $436 million in wagers on the Eagles’ 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.
Though estimates have been available since the day after the game, online sportsbooks have just begun to release confirmed figures for Super Bowl LIX and they are seriously big.
DraftKings recorded the highest daily gross revenue in its history, though specific totals were not provided.
Meanwhile, Nevada’s 186 sportsbooks reported a profit of $22.1 million, while their “hold”- the percentage of money retained by sportsbooks on a given bet- was 14.6%, the highest since 2014. The previous revenue high was $19.6 million on XLVIII, which also resulted in a blowout as the Seattle Seahawks hammered the Denver Broncos 43-8.
This was a welcomed result following an exceedingly customer-friendly season in which NFL favorites went 195-77 straight up and 144-121-7 against the spread. That prompted some major operators, including DraftKings and FanDuel, to lower their 2024 outlook.
New York sportsbooks reported a 30.6% hold, followed closely by Colorado at 28.9%. In New Jersey, the margin was 14.9%, equaling a revenue of $25.2 million.
Unsurprisingly, sportsbooks fared far worse in Pennsylvania, where a record $101.5 million was wagered. Keystone State bettors finished ahead by $6.5 million, largely thanks to the home-state Eagles.
The big game culminated in the Eagles’ second Super Bowl win in eight seasons, while the Chiefs- who closed at a 1- to 1.5-point favorite across most sportsbooks- fell a game short of an unprecedented three-peat.
FanDuel reported more than 16.6 million bets- an increase of 19.9% from Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers- with customer activity peaking at nearly 70,000 bets per minute. By comparison, DraftKings took in more than 12 million bets, including more than 59,000 per minute.
These figures are hardly a coincidence, as the Super Bowl is traditionally the busiest day of the year for sportsbooks. The American Gaming Association estimated $1.39 billion was legally bet on this year’s game, compared to estimates of $1.25 billion for Super Bowl LVIII.
Sports betting is now legal in 38 states plus Washington, D.C., with Missouri on deck for expansion this fall. Legislation is being discussed to legalize sports betting in Texas and other states, but obstacles remain. Seven states also offer legalized iGaming: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.
Revenue jumped to $13.7 billion in 2024, according to the AGA, a year-over-year increase of 25.4%. Of the $147.9 billion wagered, 95% was done online.
