Super Bowl Betting Update and What's Up With Sports Betting in South Dakota?

With the Super Bowl just days away, a lot of focus is being placed on the amount of money that could be wagered on Super Bowl LVI. This will be the first Super Bowl in history where residents in 31 states will be allowed to legally wager on the game from their home states.

The Super Bowl numbers were already expected to smash all existing records this year-long before the NFL Playoffs began. If there were any doubters, their doubts were squelched with the state of New York reporting $1.6 billion in opening mobile sports betting handle in just the last three weeks of January 2022. That number far exceeded expectations that were set at $1.0 billion to $1.1 billion. Knowing that New York sports bettors are officially onboard as mobile sports bettors, the sky seems to be the limit for this year's Super Bowl.

Note: Super Bowl LVI features a matchup between the NFC’s Los Angeles Rams and the AFC’s Cincinnati Bengals with the Rams favored at -4.5 points.

There is nothing new about tens of millions of Americans betting on the Super Bowl. This is the one time a year when non-sports bettors will open their wallets and place a little wager to help create some interest in watching the game. What is new is this will be the first time tens of millions of Americans will be betting on the Super Bowl legally.

According to estimates from the American Gaming Association (AGA), the industry trade group, this year’s Super Bowl is expected to draw legal wagers from 31.5 adult American sports bettors. That represents an increase of 35% over the number of people who wagered on last year’s Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Given the fact $3.3 billion was wagered on last year’s game, experts are looking for a number between $4.5 billion and $5.0 billion on this year’s game. That number could be low if New York sports bettors end up pushing $1.0 billion through the state’s sports betting mobile apps. As crazy as that number might seem for a single event, it’s well within the realm of possibilities.

For what it’s worth, there were several other states that opened up for legal sports betting since last year’s Super Bowl. With the addition of other states like Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, and Tennessee joining in the fun, this will certainly be a sports betting Super Bowl for the ages.

Sports Betting Bill Advances in South Dakota

While South Dakota residents won’t be wagering on the year’s Super Bowl from within the state’s boundary, there is hope for the future. Just this past week, the South Dakota Senate Commerce and Energy Committee advanced a bill that would allow South Dakota residents to vote on the future of sports betting in the state.

Currently, retail sports betting is only available on Tribal lands in Deadwood, SD. It will be interesting to see how far this bill goes given prior opposition to expanded sports betting from Governor Kristi Noem.