Pennsylvania Sportsbooks Report Over $30M in Bets on Super Bowl 54

Congratulations to Coach Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs on winning Super Bowl 54. It was a great comeback (again) for the Chiefs, and former Eagles head coach Andy Reid gets his first ring. That isn’t the only thing that happened on Sunday though, and no we aren’t talking about the halftime show.

PA sports bettors placed $30.7M in bets at PA Sportsbooks, just for one event. Super Bowl 54 was the first year that Pennsylvanians could bet on the Super Bowl from the comforts of their own homes and mobile devices, so seeing a number as high as $30.7M is a good one. Let’s take a look, as we dissect the latest from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board release.

By The Numbers

The first number that comes to mind of course is nearly $31M bet on the Super Bowl, but the other numbers are equally as staggering. Of the money wagered, $24.04M was bet online, which is over 78% of the total bets. Keep in mind that there are states that do not have online sports betting. That isn’t the biggest number here though. As you can see, the sportsbooks reported a loss of $3.33M on the Super Bowl. Great job, bettors!

Over $24M Wagered Online

With 78.3% of all bets coming via mobile betting, or online betting, the direction that Pennsylvania is taking from a betting handle perspective has been shown exhibit one. Of course, some bettors would have bet at retail places if mobile was not available, but there is no way that would have made up for $24.035M in a differential.

Mobile betting is king, as we have seen from other states such as New Jersey, where the mobile betting handle has been over 85%. Not only does it allow for more convenient betting, but in-game bets can be made at the drop of a hat, literally. That makes a big difference, and it shows with the $24M online betting handle. We will have to wait for the February revenue report to see which operator had the most action on their sportsbook app. DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook and Unibet PA offered tons of Super Bowl promos to attract new users. Did it pay off?

Bettors Clean Up on Chiefs Win

A win for the bettors! PA Sportsbooks reported a loss of $3.3M, which means bettors cleaned up on Super Bowl 54. What is interesting is the percentage of revenue compared to the handle. As you can see above, retail revenue accounted for just 13.52% of the total revenue, but there was 21.92% of the total bets. This means that online bettors had a far better day, accounting for 85.18% of the revenue on just 78.31% of the total betting handle. Likely, this was due to a lot of Chiefs live bets when they were down, or in-game betting, or even props that were not offered at retail sportsbooks. If you remember, bettors have backed the Chiefs all postseason.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board also reported that nearly 200,000 bettors logged into sports betting sites in PA for the Super Bowl, which is double a normal NFL Sunday. With bettors being awarded more than the betting handle, the books took a loss on the Super Bowl. Do not feel too bad though, as they are still way ahead. Just look at PA December revenue, alone.