Sportsbooks pinged all weekend
Super Bowl LVII was a success all around, but don’t tell the Philadelphia Eagles. Not only was the game itself close, high scoring, and entertaining, but interest in the event was sky high, as evidenced by both betting figures and television viewership.
GeoComply reported that there were over 100 million geolocation checks during Super Bowl weekend, far and away the most ever. Last year’s number was 80 million. That does not necessarily mean that there were 100 million bets placed on the game over the weekend, but it is good indicator of betting activity and interest. And GeoComply does not work with every sportsbook operator, so the real numbers are higher.
It was the first Super Bowl played in a state where sports betting was legal at the time of kickoff; GeoComply logged over 100,000 geolocation checks in and around State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona from more than 8,000 accounts.
FanDuel told CNBC that at one point, it was taking 50,000 bets per SECOND on the Super Bowl and averaged 2 million active users during the game. While it would have done great business one way or another, FanDuel was certainly helped by its promotion with former tight end Rob Gronkowski in which anyone who wagered at least $5 on the Super Bowl could win a share of $10 million free bets.
BetMGM also had a whopper of a weekend, telling CNBC that “This was BetMGM’s most successful Super Bowl and most bet on single game sporting event ever.”
Biggest bet was a winner
The increased figures are no doubt related to the growth of sports betting in the United States. Thirty-six states have legalized sports betting and 33 actually have sportsbooks – retail or mobile – up and running. Both the accessibility and visibility of sportsbooks naturally drive growth of the industry.
With all the bets came some doozies. The largest reported wager, according to ESPN, was $1.68 million on the Kansas City Chiefs at +3.5 (-168) by a DraftKings customer. Since the Chiefs won 38-35, that user profited a cool million dollars. The next two reported by ESPN were massive losers, for $1.25 million and $1 million, respectively, on the Eagles moneyline.
Of course, seeing as it was the Super Bowl, there were loads of crazy prop bets that could be made. The longshot Gatorade bet came through, as Chiefs coach Andy Reid was doused with the purple variety (off camera), bringing home a 9/1 shot. One of the longest shots (if not the longest) to happen was a prop bet called the “Octopus,” requiring a player to score a touchdown and the ensuing two-point conversion. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts did just that in the fourth quarter.
The country was riveted
And just as millions of people bet on Super Bowl LVII, so did millions upon millions upon millions watch the big game. In fact, an estimated 113 million people watched the Super Bowl on both television and digital avenues, making it the third-most-watched Super Bowl ever.
Super Bowl XLIX in 2015 between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks ranked number one in viewership with a home audience of 114.442 million, which does not count streaming. In second is Super Bowl LI in 2017 between New England and the Atlanta Falcons, which drew 113.668 million viewers.
