Nevada: Las Vegas Super Bowl smashes records with $185.6 million betting handle

The inaugural Super Bowl hosted in Las Vegas achieved a record-breaking betting handle, with Nevada sportsbooks clocking $185.6 million in wagers, surpassing the previous state record set in 2022 at $179.8 million, as per the data released by the Gaming Control Board.

The Kansas City Chiefs secured an upset victory against the San Francisco 49ers with a 25-22 win in overtime, claiming their second consecutive Super Bowl title and third in the past five years as 2-point underdogs at Allegiant Stadium.

Nevada's 182 sportsbooks achieved a $6.8 million win on the game, resulting in a 3.7 percent hold, marking the fourth-lowest win percentage in the last decade. The betting public heavily favored the Chiefs, contributing to their substantial win and also capitalizing on the overtime prop with 9-1 odds, a feat occurring only for the second time in Super Bowl history, Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

“The wagering on the Super Bowl delivered an all-time record and definitely met our expectations,” Michael Lawton, NGCB senior economic analyst told the publication. “The drivers for this year’s totals included the matchup having a West Coast team from the No. 2 feeder market for Las Vegas, the defending champions and, of course, the game being played in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium.”

This year's handle surpassed the previous record by $32.4 million, marking a significant 21.2 percent increase over last year's figure of $153.2 million. Despite the expanding landscape of legal sports gambling across the nation, Nevada sportsbooks maintain their financial success, with bettors losing $6.8 million on the game. Notably, there were five bets of $1 million or more in Nevada, consisting of two winning bets on the Chiefs and three losing bets on the 49ers.

"The way that the early wagers were coming in, and we were already seeing six-figure wagers two weeks out, I really felt it was going to break the record. There was just a different feel with the game being here from the crowds and the atmosphere in every one of our books," Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito was quoted as saying in the report. “It goes hand in hand with what we see with Knights, Raiders and Aces games, and NASCAR and Formula One, and prize fights and UFC. When they’re here, the handle on any of those events is always the highest.”