Nevada Sportsbooks See Record Amount Bet On The Super Bowl

Las Vegas hosted the Super Bowl for the first time on Sunday afternoon. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Fransisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime to take home the Lombardi Trophy and NFL Championship.

The Super Bowl was more than just another game for Nevada. The Big Game was a gambling record for the Silver State.

The initial, unaudited report from the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) shows that there was a record-breaking $185.6 million wagered on Super Bowl LVIII.

Not only is this a state record, but it’s a national record. No other state with legal sports betting has seen this much wagered on the Super Bowl.

Nevada sportsbooks won only 3.7% of the money gambled on the Big Game. The $6.8 million win wasn’t a record for Nevada sportsbooks.

A win is a win. Nevada sportsbooks have only lost money on Super Bowl betting twice since the NGCB started recording individual game revenue data in 1991.

The game was also a record-breaker on TV. According to NFL Communications, Super Bowl LVIII was also the most-watched game in television history.

Online sportsbooks have become popular throughout the country. However, there’s no experience like watching the games with thousands of people with skin in the game inside of a huge Las Vegas casino sportsbook.

Super Bowl revenue in Las Vegas

The $185.6 million gambled on the Super Bowl breaks the previous record set in 2022 when Nevada bettors wagered $179.8 million on the Big Game when the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20.

Even though there are 39 jurisdictions with legal sports betting, no state has ever seen this much money wagered on the Super Bowl.

The initial unaudited report from the NGCB shows that Nevada casinos won $6.8 million from Super Bowl betting. This is good for a win percentage of 3.7%.

While the money and percentage won is greater than the 2023 Super Bowl it’s lower than the previous four years. NGCB Chairman Kirk Hendrick said in an article by the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

“the Nevada Gaming Control Board congratulates and thanks all the stakeholders involved for successfully delivering such a spectacular event from the state of Nevada.”

This isn’t much of a surprise. Last week, Legal Sports Report analyst Eric Ramsey said that he expected Nevada would see more money wagered on the Super Bowl than any other state.

The final audited February gaming revenue report will be released in April.

Big Game recap

The first half of the Super Bowl got off the a slow start with the 49ers leading the Chiefs 10-3 a halftime. The game slowly heated up after the stellar halftime performance by Usher and friends.

The second half was a battle between the two best teams in the NFL. Patrick Mahomes was named the Super Bowl MVP after leading the Chiefs to a comeback win in overtime. The 25-22 game was only the second Super Bowl to go to overtime.

The Chiefs became the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004.

Even though the Chiefs defeated the 49ers, San Fransisco is favored to win the Super Bowl next year.

The 49ers are +575 to win the Super Bowl next year at Circa Sports in Las Vegas. The Chiefs are just +900 to win the Big Game next year.

Viva Las Vegas!

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce serenaded the remaining fans in attendance and millions watching on TV after the Super Bowl with a little “Viva Las Vegas.”

Las Vegas is no stranger to hosting big events. The city has everything a large event could want.

There are tens of thousands of hotel rooms and hundreds of restaurants within a few miles of Allegiant Stadium. There are also always entertainment options after the workday ends.

As expected, Las Vegas was a great host city for the Super Bowl. Besides traffic, the game went off without a hitch.

The Super Bowl wasn’t the only game in town during the week. In addition to the game, there were numerous Las Vegas concerts, residencies, and parties all over the city.

As with most big events in Las Vegas, celebrities showed up in droves. There were also numerous pop-up appearances by musicians inside and around the Las Vegas casinos.

Blake Shelton and his wife Gwen Stefanie hit the stage at Ole Red outside of Horseshoe Las Vegas. Bruno Mars performed at the opening of his new lounge at Bellagio. Justin Beiber made unannounced appearances at the Delilah Supper Club at Wynn.

Countless celebrities just visited the entertainment capital of the world to watch the Super Bowl. Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Ice Spice, Lana Del Rey, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Blake Lively, Keegan-Michael Key, Mr. Beast, and Elon Musk were just some of the big names on hand to watch the game.

Chiefs fans John Hamm and Paul Rudd were also at the Super Bowl to root for their favorite team. There was also a suite full of the most famous names in Las Vegas.

Unlike after most championships, the winning team didn’t have to get on an airplane to celebrate in Las Vegas. The Chiefs partied at Zouk nightclub inside Resorts World and XS inside Wynn after winning the NFL Championship.

The Big Game will return to Las Vegas sometime in the future. When addressing the media at the post-game handoff to the next Super Bowl host city, New Orleans, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said “The NFL looks forward to coming back” to Las Vegas.

This isn’t much of a surprise. Last year, NFL Senior Director of Events Nicki Ewell unofficially commented that Las Vegas would be in the rotation of host cities for the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl won’t return to Las Vegas right away. The Super Bowl will be in New Orleans next year. The 2026 and 2027 games will take place in California.

Up next in Las Vegas: March Madness

The next big event in Las Vegas will begin in less than a month. College basketball will be the next major sport to take the stage in Las Vegas.

The hoops action in March starts with a handful of conference tournaments in early to mid-March. in Las Vegas before the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament begins.

Unlike the Super Bowl, the college basketball conference tournaments will occur throughout the Las Vegas Valley:

West Coast Conference: March 7-9 at Orleans Arena (Off-Strip)
Big West: March 13-16 at Dollar Loan Center (Henderson)
Mountain West: March 13-16 at Thomas & Mack Center (Off-Strip)
Pac 12: March 13-16 at T-Mobile Arena (Vegas Strip)
WAC: March 13-16 at Orleans Arena (Off-Strip)
While the conference tournaments bring regional visitors, the national tournament brings many more college basketball fans to Las Vegas from all over the country.

Anecdotally, there’s been nearly as much money gambled during the first weekend of March Madness as on the Super Bowl. Nevada gaming regulators don’t separate college and pro basketball when reporting gaming revenue.

The first weekend of March Madness is one of the busiest in Las Vegas. Much like the Big Game, seats are largely unavailable without reservations on the Vegas Strip due to the popularity of college basketball and the large volume of games.

There are 16 games to watch and wager on during the first two days of the weekend, March 19 and 20. There are another eight games on March 21 and 22.

Seating is much easier to find for the latter batch of games. Visitors are either burnt out from two 12-hour days of basketball or are heading home.

In addition to March Madness, ample spring breakers will be in Las Vegas for some fun in the sun.

The atmosphere will be electric inside casino sportsbooks as well as the bars, lounges, and ballrooms hosting March Madness watch parties.

Written By Marc Meltzer