Super Bowl: Nevada sportsbooks win a record $22,1 million on even though betting was down

The strong showing for casinos came as the Kansas City Chiefs, favored by bettors over the Philadelphia Eagles, lost 40-22 in a game with a higher score than expected.

More than $151.6 million was bet in Nevada on Super Bowl LIX, the Gaming Control Board said Tuesday. But the revenue total of $22.1 million — the amount won by the sportsbooks on losing bets from customers — was the highest figure in the 59 years the state has taken legal wagers on the game.

The previous revenue record in Nevada was $19.6 million, which was set in 2014 when the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos, 43-9. That year, $119.4 million was wagered on the game. 

A year ago, when the game was played at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, sportsbooks collected $11.2 million on a record $190 million  in wagers.

“As we had anticipated, this year’s total did not surpass last year’s record,” control board senior economic analyst Michael Lawton said in a statement. “Not having the game at Allegiant was a contributing factor in addition to not having a team from neighboring California [San Francisco 49ers] play in the game.”

The point spread from most sportsbooks closed with the Chiefs as a 1.5-point favorite and the game’s total points set at 48.5.

“More customers backed the Chiefs in this game and in the futures pool than the Eagles,” said Joey Feazel, who oversees football wagering for Caesars Sportsbook. He said many Caesars customers had losing bets on the Eagles’ star running back Saquon Barkley scoring a touchdown.

“[While] there were a variety of touchdown scorers, which would usually be favorable to the customers, [Barkley] did not see the end zone,” Feazel said, which was “the most popular single-game parlay wager.”

Caesars Vice President of Trading Craig Mucklow said the company’s sportsbooks nationwide saw a substantial increase in halftime wagering when Philadelphia was winning 24-0. He said customers were betting heavily on a Chiefs’ comeback victory. 

“A significant amount of wagers flooded in on Kansas City at longer odds on the money line and all spreads we posted,” Mucklow said in a statement. “This rare opportunity to bet on [Chiefs quarterback] Patrick Mahomes at such generous spreads and odds proved to drive significant growth.”

In a statement, BetMGM senior trading manager Christian Cipollini said the game “had a lower percentage of proposition bets and parlays hitting for bettors in comparison to last year.”

Caesars, which operates eight resorts on the Strip, also benefited from the game being held in New Orleans, where the company spent $435 million to renovate its Caesars New Orleans resort near the French Quarter. Through a multiyear naming rights deal, the company placed the Caesars name on the New Orleans Superdome.

Caesars spokesman Brad Harwood said the company’s New Orleans casino recorded its highest-ever total number of in-person bets placed for a single event.