While The American Gaming Association Predicts Betting Will Go Down Nearly 40% For This Year’s Super Bowl Due To The Pandemic, Other Predictions State It May Increase By Up To 60% Thanks To The Legalization Of Online Betting.
Published February 8, 2021
Super Bowl Sunday has often been called the biggest betting day in the year, but it seems that Covid is going to disrupt that. The American Gaming Association has said betting is likely to go down nearly 40%.
This decrease will mostly come from a lack of in-home betting, local Super Bowl parties, and tourists heading to Las Vegas. With the Covid pandemic still surging through the country, people everywhere have been asked to change their plans.
Gambling historian, David Schwartz from the University of Nevada said, “Covid-19 has disrupted everything about American work and recreation, and we can expect the patterns of betting on this year’s Super Bowl to reflect this reality. It is likely that with many Americans working remotely, betting in office pools will be down. Bettors may also not place bets in sportsbooks before and during the game. But with the increased prevalence of legal online betting options, it is likely that the level of bets placed with state-regulated sportsbooks will increase.”
Legalized betting being done online, including across the state of Tennessee, could actually lead to an increase in betting. This increase might even be up by 60%.
Action247.com is an online betting partner in Tennessee. CEO, Tina Hodges, said, “I really had no idea how many people would play. And I think (the Super Bowl) will be more of the same for Tennessee.”
Starting on November 1, the state became online partners with The Tennessee Education Lottery, DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM.
The American Gaming Association has projected that Super Bowl Sunday will see 23 million Americans making bets that add up to $4.3 billion.
Online sports betting in Tennessee did not go live until November 1 of 2020, but the results were overwhelming. The debut month ended up seeing more online bets placed than in any other state during their first month.
November saw a fluid college football season, a Masters tournament, and a drop in TV ratings for sports channels. However, Tennessee still saw $131 million in bets during this first month of legal online sports betting.
Only 19 states other than Tennessee allow residents to partake in legal betting. North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington do have legalized betting but are still in the early stages and have not seen any bets made yet.
Rebecca Paul Hargrove, CEO of the Tennessee Education Lottery spoke about the November start to the newly legal betting program. She said, “Our first month of sports wagering in Tennessee comes at a unique time in the world, let alone the sports world. November’s figures include adjustments and indicate potential.”
Hargrove also said it was hard to judge how much legal betting would grow, given the out of the ordinary year that it started in.
Hargrove said, “As this new industry in Tennessee evolves, we will continue to work with licensees and registrants in support of a responsible and competitive sports wagering program.”
December saw even more betting than November, with Tennessee seeing a record number of bets placed, totaling up to $181 million. This led the state to collect $3.1 million in taxes.
The $319 million bets placed in the first two months was more than any other state with legal betting saw during their debuts.
