- Super Bowl. NFL season is over, time to deal with post-Super Bowl blues
- Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Reid addresses sideline incident with Travis Kelce: "He caught me off balance"
Super Bowl 58 saw unprecedented levels of sports betting activity, shattering records across various platforms as fans engaged in spirited wagering on the thrilling clash between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.
The game's historic overtime finish only added to the excitement, driving millions of football fans to place their bets through a multitude of channels.
Online sports betting skyrocketed during Super Bowl LVIII
According to GeoComply Solutions, a company specializing in geolocation data for online sportsbooks, the minutes leading up to kickoff witnessed a remarkable surge in online transactions, with nearly 15,000 transactions per second recorded.
This spike in activity represented the highest rate of transactions ever recorded by the company, underscoring the immense interest in sports betting surrounding the Super Bowl.
Anna Sainsbury, CEO and co-founder of GeoComply, emphasized the significance of this milestone, stating, "The continued transition to the legal market set the stage for a historic first Super Bowl in Las Vegas, and the record-breaking results we saw did not disappoint."
FanDuel, one of the leading sports betting platforms, reported staggering figures, with $14 million in bets and a total handle of $307 million, both setting new Super Bowl records for the company.
This marked a substantial 40% increase from the previous year's game, highlighting the growing popularity of sports wagering.
While some sportsbooks, like DraftKings and BetMGM, did not immediately release specific figures, BetMGM revealed insights into the betting trends, noting that a majority of bettors favored the Chiefs to win.
Tristan Davis, senior trader at BetMGM, lamented, "It was a bad Super Bowl for the sportsbook," attributing this outcome to the overwhelming for the Chiefs among bettors.
The exact magnitude of the wagers placed during Super Bowl 58 may never be fully quantified due to the diverse array of betting options available, including traditional bets on game outcomes and more casual betting activities among friends and family.
However, industry estimates suggest that tens of millions of Americans participated in betting activities, with projected wagers totaling billions of dollars.
Looking ahead, sportsbooks are already gearing up for Super Bowl 59, with the San Francisco 49ers emerging as early favorites to claim victory.