AGA Super Bowl Survey Sees More Online Bets But COVID Impacts Overall Wagers

Posted on: February 2, 2021, 08:11h. 

Last updated on: February 11, 2021, 02:40h.

Steve Bittenbender Read More
Expertise: Legislation, Sports Betting, Horse Racing.

More than 23 million Americans say they plan to bet on Sunday’s Super Bowl, according to a survey sponsored by the American Gaming Association. Nearly a third of those bettors plan to wager online.

Super Bowl
Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady celebrates a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers in November. According to a survey from the American Gaming Association, bettors believe Brady’s Buccaneers are the underdog in Sunday’s Super Bowl. (Image: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

In all, the bettors say they expect to bet $4.3 billion, which works out to an average of more than $185 per person. That figure includes wagers placed through legal sportsbooks, friendly wagers, and ones made through illegal bookies or offshore books.

AGA President and CEO Bill Miller said Sunday’s Super Bowl, which will pit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Kansas City Chiefs, stands to become the largest single-event handle in the nascent history of legal US sports betting.

With a robust legal market, Americans are abandoning illegal bookies and taking their action into the regulated marketplace in record numbers,” he said.

The AGA said that 36 million more Americans now live in markets where sports betting is now legal. That includes seven states and Washington, DC. In all, sports betting is legal in 25 states and the District of Columbia.

The AGA makes its projections based on a survey of nearly 2,200 people polled last week by Morning Consult. The margin of error is 2 percent, plus or minus.

COVID Keeps Overall Betting Numbers Down

Not surprisingly, as the legal market grows, so, too, is the number of Americans who plan to bet online. The 7.6 million Americans who will bet online is a 63 percent increase from last year.

But while that number continues to jump, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an overall decrease in betting on the big game. Last year, the AGA forecast a record 26 million Americans would bet a total of $6.8 billion on the big game. That equates to more than $261 per person.

Aside from online, the AGA said the survey shows other ways to bet on the game will see decreases from last year’s results.

For example, 4.5 million Americans said they plan to bet in a squares jackpot or other pool game. That’s down nearly 20 percent, as many of those types of pools are conducted in offices or other social settings.

Another 11.9 million said they want to make casual bets with their friends. That number is down 18 percent from last year. Meanwhile, 1.8 million said they will bet with a bookie. The AGA said that number is down 21 percent.

Super Bowl Bettors Like the Chiefs

The survey also indicates that a majority of bettors think the Chiefs will become the first team since the New England Patriots in 2003-04 to win consecutive Super Bowls. KC has the support of 56 percent of those who responded to the AGA survey.

The quarterback to lead the Patriots to those wins was Tom Brady, who is in his first year as the Buccaneers signal-caller. Tampa Bay is also the first team in Super Bowl history to reach a championship game when it’s played on their home field.

The Chiefs are a three-point favorite at most sportsbooks, and according to oddsFire.com, FanDuel bettors like that number. The site reports 68 percent of FanDuel bettors have given the points, and those bets equal 81 percent of the spread handle.

The straight-up Moneyline at FanDuel is mixed. Tampa Bay, with odds of +140, makes up 53 percent of the bets, but 55 percent of the money is on the Chiefs, with odds of -166. Those prices mean a person who bets $100 on the Bucs would get $240, or net a $140 return. A KC bettor who bets $166 would win $100 and get their bet back.

FanDuel bettors also believe the game will be a high-scoring affair. With the total points set at 57.5, 75 percent of the bets are on the over. Those bets also account for 76 percent of the handle.

The game will kick off at 6:30 pm ET Sunday and air on CBS.