- That number would make Super Bowl LVII the highest-betting sporting event in US history
- Nevada, New York, New Jersey, Illinois and Ohio are expected to be the busiest states
The 2023 Super Bowl is expected to garner more than $1.1 billion in U.S. stakes — the highest ever for the National Football League (NFL) championship game.
The number reported by PlayUSA would also make Super Bowl LVII the most wagered sporting event in US history.
The prediction comes as 33 US states plus Washington DC prepare to offer odds on the game, with Kansas, Massachusetts and Ohio also set to join the fray in 2023. In addition, the flagship game of the NFL on 12th February will be the first Super Bowl with legal online sports betting in Maryland. The state only had physical sportsbooks in operation for last year’s game.
The 2022 Super Bowl brought in $947 million in wagers, according to PlayUSA.
The top five sports betting states for the Super Bowl could bring in more than $621.9 million in wagers, about 56.5 percent of the total. Nevada alone could book $176.2 million in wagers, which is expected to be the highest of any state, although that would be less than the $179.8 million wagered on the 2022 game.
Behind Nevada, New York is expected to be second in Super Bowl betting with $161.6 million. New Jersey ($111.5 million), Illinois ($86.1 million) and Ohio ($82.5 million) complete the top five.
State Farm Stadium in Arizona will host the game, with the state expected to attract $63.1 million in betting, the seventh-highest of any state.
“The 2023 Super Bowl could draw more bets than any other game in U.S. esports history and easily surpass the 2022 total with the addition of a few key markets to the equation,” Catena Media senior analyst Eric Ramsey told PlayUSA .
“Ohio, in particular, is poised to make a meaningful contribution with a top-five performance in its first 45 days of legal operations. Nevada, meanwhile, expects to sit at the top of the Super Bowl betting throne for at least another year, with nearly 10 times the average volume per capita for that particular event.”
As US sportsbook continues its Super Bowl preparations, NBCUniversal has reportedly renewed its five-year partnership with PointsBet.
According to Axios, the pact will run for an additional two years and amend the original terms to reduce PointsBet’s annual advertising spend commitment with NBCUniversal properties. The latest deal also shifts some of the betting company’s advertising spending commitments to the media group’s more regional assets.
PointsBet will now reportedly be required to spend around $58 million per year on marketing with NBCUniversal channels, compared to the approximately $90 million per year it was initially required to spend.
The first deal signed in 2020 by Australian-headquartered PointsBet and NBCUniversal was worth $500 million, according to Sportico, and the company operates in 14 US states.
As NFL betting thrives, league viewership continues to see huge national numbers.
CBS averaged 53.12 million viewers as the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the American Football Conference (AFC) championship game, a six percent increase from the same 2022 broadcast window. The number also marked an 11 percent increase over the previous year’s title match of the year and was the largest audience for a conference championship game since 2019.
Fox, meanwhile, managed to garner 47.5 million viewers for the Philadelphia Eagles’ win over the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football Conference (NFC) championship game. That was a five percent drop from the network’s primetime NFC championship in 2022, but was similar to the 47.85 million for last year’s afternoon show on CBS.
The two games on CBS and Fox averaged 50.31 million viewers, up three percent from the 49 million viewers of last year’s games.