The Nevada Gaming Control Board released its official figures on Super Bowl 55 and, despite a global pandemic, gamblers fired away $136 million on various Super Bowl 55 bets. Overall, 184 different sportsbooks in Nevada banked $12.6 million when Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers upset the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl.
At last year’s Super Bowl in a pre-pandemic and fully operational Las Vegas, bettors wagered $154.7 million on Super Bowl 54. Nevada sportsbooks won $18.7 million on Super Bowl 54, according to the NGCB, when the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers.
“We actually handled more on this year’s game than we did on last year’s game,” said Westgate SuperBook director Jay Kornegay told ESPN. “The overall number did fall short of last year, but mainly because of the futures pool being well short of last year.”
In Super Bowl 55, Brady and the underdog Bucs were getting +3 or +3.5 points against the defending champions. The points total settled on 56 o/u.
Sportsbooks were thrilled with the Bucs winning outright 31-9, and the points total going way under (40). Despite laying over 3.5 points, Kansas City was a popular public betting favorite. In addition, bettors hammered the over in a Super Bowl that had been hyped as a battle between two of the top-scoring teams in the league.
The House Wins on the Super Bowl … Again
Despite a 13% drop off in betting from 2020, bettors waited in long lines or utilized various apps to place a multitude of wagers and prop bets on Super Bowl 55.
Nevada’s $12.6 million win in Super Bowl 55 marks its fifth-largest score since the NGCB began tracking wager information. It’s also their second-biggest win since 2016. Despite the profitable Sunday, BetMGM incurred a hit when an online bettor won $2.3 million on Tampa Bay, which they played using their app.
In 2014, Nevada sportsbooks crushed bettors when the Seattle Seahawks knocked off the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 47. Gamblers wagered $119.4 million in the Seattle/Denver Super Bowl, but the “house” won nearly $19.7 million for a 16.5% hold.
| SUPER BOWL 55 NEVADA BETTING FIGURES |
| YEAR | WAGERED | PROFIT | HOLD |
| 2014 | $119,400,822 | $19,673,960 | 16.5% |
| 2015 | $115,996,086 | $3,261,066 | 2.8% |
| 2016 | $132,545,587 | $13,314,519 | 10.1% |
| 2017 | $138,480,136 | $10,937,826 | 7.9% |
| 2018 | $158,586,934 | $1,170,432 | 0.7% |
| 2019 | $145,939,025 | $10,780,319 | 7.4% |
| 2020 | $154,679,241 | $18,774,148 | 12.1% |
| 2021 | $135,096,460 | $12,574,125 | 9.2% |
** Figures from Nevada Gaming Control Board
Between 2015 and 2018, Nevada sportsbooks took a dual hit on Super Bowls involving the New England Patriots. 2018 was particularly harsh. Super Bowl 52 saw a record-setting $158.5 million in wagers when the Philadelphia Eagles went up against the defending champion New England Patriots. Yet, Nevada’s hold was a mere 0.7%. Don’t feel too bad for them, they still squeezed out a collective profit of $1.1 million when the Eagles upset the Pats.
In 2015, Nevada’s sportsbooks only won $3.2 million when New England held off the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 in Super Bowl 49. That matchup marked the lowest betting turnout in the last eight Super Bowls.
In case you were wondering, Mattress Mack made his $3.46 million bet in Colorado and not Nevada.
