New York sportsbooks cash in, Pennsylvania’s lose out on Super Bowl
Super Bowl LIX smashed sports betting activity for states and operators alike as the Philadelphia Eagles‘ win over the Kansas City Chiefs generally yielded strong results for sportsbooks.
There are some notable conclusions from the data so far. Let’s dive into a few of them.
Nevada sportsbooks win record amount from lower handle
First of all, Nevada sportsbooks have never made more money from Super Bowl betting than the did this year.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) reported a new all-time record of $22.1 million in operator win as sportsbooks enjoyed 14.6% hold. That was 17.9% higher than the $18.8 million won in 2020. That record net win came despite the fact that Nevada handle was actually down 20.1% from last year’s game, which took place in Las Vegas.
Last year’s Super Bowl set a record for amount wagered at $190 million, but sportsbooks won just $11.1 million for 5.9% hold as the favored Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers to go back-to-back. This year’s saw $151.6 million in bets and double the net win.
New Jersey sets pace in Super Bowl betting activity
At the time of writing, Nevada’s Super Bowl handle has been beaten only by New Jersey, which took more money on the game via regulated sportsbooks than any other state to report so far.
The Division of Gaming Enforcement data shows that the Garden State’s 11 retail sportsbooks and 14 mobile sportsbooks handled $168.7 million in bets on the game, a 19% year-over-year increase. Sportsbooks net win soared, nearly tripling from just less than $8.5 million to $25.2 million and representing hold of nearly 18%.
New York’s 30% hold yields huge win
In terms of handle, New York’s $154.9 million was down 4.4% from last year and trailed behind neighboring New Jersey this year, but nowhere did sportsbooks profit like the Empire State.
The New York State Gaming Commission on Thursday reported a $47.4 million in gross operator revenue on the Super Bowl for the state’s sportsbooks, including both game bets and futures bets on the NFL championship winner. That win rate was around four times higher than it was for the last Super Bowl.
Encompassing all bets, New York’s sportsbooks’ hold was 30.6%. Disregarding futures, it was even higher at 31.7%. FanDuel accounted for more than half of all GGR on the game in the state and held almost 40%.
Pennsylvania sportsbooks take hit as Eagles fly
In stark contrast to other states’ performance was the Eagles’ home state of Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board noted a “high percentage of wagers placed on the Eagles to win” this year and that bettors “overwhelmingly placed winning wagers.” Sportsbooks suffered accordingly, reporting a combined net loss of $6.5 million on the game.
Sportsbooks took a state record $101.5 million in bets, up 20.4% over the previous high set in 2023 when the Eagles lost to the Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII.
FanDuel shatters Super Bowl betting ceiling
We already know FanDuel performed exceptionally in New York, and that trend was seen nationwide, according to the Flutter-owned sportsbook.
The market-leading operator reported a new record of more than 16.6 million Super Bowl bets placed on its platform this year, a 19% increase from 2024. The online book said it had nearly three million users’ wagers, and activity peaked at almost 70,000 bets per minute.
https://sbcamericas.com/2025/02/14/super-bowl-betting-how-did-states-fare/