The house wins again.
Nevada sportsbooks won $18.7 million off $154.6 million in bets on Super Bowl LIV, according to figures released Tuesday by gaming control officials. Both the win and the amount wagered were near-records for Nevada's bookmakers and stand as evidence that Las Vegas remains the epicenter for American sports betting.
The Kansas City Chiefs rallied in the fourth quarter to knock off the underdog San Francisco 49ers 31-20 on Sunday. The Chiefs covered the 1.5-point spread, the game stayed under the 53.5 total and Nevada cleaned up.
The $18.7 million win is behind only the $19.6 million Nevada sportsbooks won on Super Bowl XLVIII between the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, and the $154.6 million bet is just behind the record $158.5 million that was wagered on Super Bowl LII between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots.
This was the second Super Bowl since a 2018 Supreme Court decision opened a path for states outside of Nevada to offer regulated sports betting. Since the ruling, legal sportsbooks have opened in 14 states, with several more poised to get into the bookmaking business this year. The expansion hasn't slowed down the action in Nevada, though. A record $5.3 billion was bet with Nevada sportsbooks in 2019.
"The overall picture in Nevada [since the Supreme Court decision] remains positive," Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for Nevada Gaming Control, said in an email to ESPN. "Nevada has set annual records in 10 consecutive years for sports pool volume and won $329.1 million in 2019, which is an all-time record and up 9.5% over last year. In fact, since 2010, sports betting volumes in Nevada have increased 92.6% or $2.555 billion."
Bettors had more success on the Super Bowl in some of the new states offering sports betting. New Jersey sportsbooks reported a $4.2 million net loss on the $54.2 million bet on the Super Bowl, although some of that loss can be attributed to promotions offered by Garden State bookmakers. Pennsylvania sportsbooks reported a $3.3 million loss on the $30.6 million bet on the Super Bowl.
Kip Levin, president and chief operating officer of FanDuel, pointed to in-play wagering as a big factor in the book's Super Bowl loss in New Jersey.
"With their knack of playoff comebacks, there was a lot of interest in the Chiefs when their odds peaked in the fourth quarter," Levin told ESPN.
He emphasized, though, that FanDuel was still pleased with the betting interest on the Super Bowl, despite the loss.
"I think we have a lot of years to go before revenue, instead of customer acquisition, is the primary metric for success on days like Super Bowl Sunday," Levin said.
Rhode Island sportsbooks fared better, winning $804,000 off $5.5 million bet on the Super Bowl, according to state lottery officials. The Oregon state lottery did not report a net result but said more than 90,000 bets totaling more than $2 million were placed on the Super Bowl between the Chiefs and 49ers.