Earlier this week the American Gaming Association (AGA) announced its estimates about this year’s Super Bowl betting in the US. According to the numbers, 4.2 billion will be wagered by Americans, but most of the wagers will be done against the regulated sports betting i.e. illegally.
In particular, about 97% or about $4.1 billion of the bets on the Super Bowl will be placed illegally which stands in stark contrast to the $115 million that were bet illegally last year on the Seattle Seahawks- New England Patriots game. Based on its estimates, the association predicts that this year bets on the Denver Broncos- Carolina Panthers game in the Super Bowl 50 will go up by 8% year on year.
Moreover, the association claims that the illegal market is 35 times bigger than the legal sport betting market. The president and CEO at AGA, Geoff Freeman, said that as American people are celebrating the milestone in the Super Bowl, they will also wager a record amount on the big event. “Sports betting has never been more popular as it is nowadays. The casino gaming market is leading a new approach to sports betting that focuses on bettors’ protection and more integrity of the games.” he said.
The association also found that people in America bet $149 million on sport events in 2015 which is up by $145 billion that was bet in 2014. The growth of sports betting has prompted US states like New Jersey to consider this activity at casinos, but the leagues and NCAA have been fiercely fighting against the expansion of sports betting to more states. This gambling activity is controlled by the law of 1992 that limits sports betting to four states.