The American Gaming Association /AGA/ announced today that the Super Bowl LIV match on February 2 is loaded with huge expectations betting-wise, as a recently conducted survey showed that at least 3 million more adult Americans have strong intentions to place a bet on the game, one way or another.
The Survey
The survey conducted on behalf of the AGA, is a sample of 2200 adult Americans, selected by age, race, ethnicity, gender, educational attainment, and region to reflect on the current distribution of the population by these criteria, and considers all forms of wagering, ranging from online, with a bookie, in a casino, in a pool or squares contest, and even casually with family or friends, and its findings give invaluable feedback in regards to the ongoing process of sports betting legalization and introduction of online betting throughout the states.
Revenue to Sky Rocket
The fact that more than one in every ten Americans has the strong intention to place any type of bet, bringing the total amount of expected bet receipts for the Super Bowl LIV to a staggering $6.8 billion suggests that more and more people are feeling at ease with the option to wager with legal operators and, as the AGA President and CEO Bill Miller points out, the availability of local sports books draws back home funds that so far leaked out towards betting companies offering illegal wagering.
The Online Betting Market
Another finding of the survey shows that a 19% increase in the amount of online bets compared to last year’s NFL Final can be expected this year, bringing the total amount of online bettors to nearly 5 million, and inevitably drawing the attention of the states that are currently hesitating whether to legalize online sports betting or not, clearly showing the huge potential online operations offer in an era when mobility is key.
Retails Sports Books
Brick-and-mortar sports books, too, have a reason to rejoice as the survey numbers show that 4 million people out of the 26 million in total expected to wager on the game do prefer the in-person betting, marking a 25% increase from the year before.
Casual Betting
One section of the survey ordered by the AGA it does not go into details is the group of people that are about to wager in a pool or squares contest, or even casually with family and friends: it is just mentioned that they are in the millions bracket, without further elaboration on why in the first place this category is included in the survey, as it has no effect whatsoever in terms of betting revenue for the industry, and its presence just leaves the impression that the AGA wants to inflate the figures.
The survey numbers clearly present that the ongoing process of legalization and subsequent introduction of online sports betting serves as a boost for public confidence, keeps betting activities in-house and stops the outflows of money towards illegal operations.