Among Super Bowl bettors, a record 7.6m will bet with online sportsbooks this year, up 63% year-over-year.
“This year’s Super Bowl is expected to generate the largest single-event legal handle in American sports betting history,” said AGA President and CEO Bill Miller. “With a robust legal market, Americans are abandoning illegal bookies and taking their action into the regulated marketplace in record numbers.”
Since last year’s game, 36m more American adults have gained the opportunity to safely bet in legal markets in their home state with seven new jurisdictions now live: Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, DC.
An expected overall drop in overall Super Bowl betting is almost entirely caused by pandemic-led restrictions, with the largest declines anticipated for retail sportsbooks and casual bets, like pools or squares, that are made in social settings.
Key findings from the survey, conducted by Morning Consult, reflect dramatically shifting betting patterns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It found that 1.4m Americans plan to bet in-person at a sportsbook, down 61% from 2020, 1.8m bettors plan to place a bet with a bookie, down 21% and 4.5m Americans plan to place a pool, squares, or similar bet, down 19%.
In terms of the outcome, it is predicting that 56% of bettors plan to bet on the Chiefs while 44% plan to bet on the Buccaneers.
While previous AGA research has shown consumer confusion over the legal status of many online sportsbooks, consumers feel it is important to bet legally: 65% of expected Super Bowl bettors say it is important for themselves personally to use a legal, regulated sportsbook for their bets.
“This data is an encouraging sign that our efforts to ground the expansion of sports betting in responsible gaming is taking hold,” stated Miller. “Responsible gaming is core to legal sports betting’s long-term success, and this is borne out by continued demand for consumer protections only available in the legal market,” AGA’s CEO concluded.
Source: GMB
