Americans have always been able to bet on the outcome of the Super Bowl but these days it is a whole lot easier for them.
Billions of dollars are expected to be wagered by Americans on Sunday’s game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals.
As with association football, the number of things one can bet on is bewildering and often ludicrous.
The length of the rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner”?
Yup, you can bet on that.
Over/under on the aggregate value of the shirts worn by the touchdown scorers?
Yes, indeedy.
The number of car adverts/pizza adverts/beer adverts that will be screened in the official broadcast?
Yes, you can bet on that, although "too many" is not a betting option.
The coin toss?
Associated Press’s helpful guide on betting on the Super Bowl assures us there are two choices: heads or tails. So you can be sure it is possible to bet on the coin toss and if you bet on both heads & tails at the same time, you can also be sure of losing money.
Number of flags (penalty calls) thrown in each quarter.
You can bet on that. The NFL even has a version of VAR (video assisted referee) so you can bet on that (and complain about it if it costs you money).
Americans can now bet on all of those things, legally, without having to visit a casino or racetrack.
Betting on sport – or sports, if you are American – is legal now in 33 states (and in Washington, DC), following a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 that fired the starting gun for states keen to loosen restrictions on legalised gambling.
Draftkings Inc (NASDAQ:DKNG) and London-listed peers Flutter Entertainment PLC (LSE:FLTR), via its FanDuel arm, and Entain PLC (LSE:ENT), through its BetMGM join venture with casino colossus MGM International, are key players.
Since last year’s Super Bowl, 10 more states have legalised betting on sport, which means 45mln or so more adults this year than last can have a punt on the punter if they wish, or bet on a safety happening in the first quarter, all from the safety of their own home.
Of those states (and DC – the District of Columbia) that have legalised gambling on sport, 22 of them (and DC) also allow betting via mobile devices, albeit with the proviso that the person placing the bet via a mobile device must be present in the relevant state.
This conjures up images of Big Brad Kozlowski who lives across the border from a state that does allow bets via mobile devices popping across the state line to have a crafty US$10 wager on the winning quarterback getting awarded the Most Valuable Player (MVP) accolade (as he almost always does - if a player on the losing side ever won MVP, many Americans would have a heart attack).
According to the American Gaming Association, online betting companies use geofencing technology, granular location analysis that is able to pinpoint a device’s location within five metres; it can even detect tech-savvy users trying to get around the restrictions through the use of a virtual private network, the Yahoo Finance website reported.
The American Gaming Association estimates that overall game bets will reach around US$7.6bn, up 78% jump on last year.
Ironically, California is a state where betting on sport is not legal, and that’s where Sunday’s game will take place.
This year's expanded state sports betting laws are expected to fuel a record-setting $1 billion in legal bets on Sunday’s #SuperBowl, according to @VisitPlayUSA. @AmericanGaming estimates overall game bets will reach around $7.6 billion, a 78% jump over last year. https://t.co/RuutGG3PmZ
— Alexis Keenan (@alexiskweed) February 10, 2022