How Did Nevada Sportsbooks Fare During Super Bowl?

Super Bowl 59 was an utter beat down as the Philadelphia Eagles trounced the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 — a score that was closer than the actual game. Heck, even the halftime show was a beat down of Drake courtesy or Kendrick Lamar.

But did the sportsbooks in Las Vegas fare any better? Well, that’s what this article is about. The books have already come out to say how they performed for Super Bowl betting. Let’s just say they did better than the Chiefs did…

Las Vegas Sportsbooks Won Big

In Nevada’s betting scene, there are a whopping 186 sportsbooks. Mind you, most of these are retail locations, not necessarily mobile sports betting apps. These 186 books were the biggest winners on Super Bowl Sunday — not the Eagles; not Jalen Hurts, not Nick Sirianni.

The Gaming Control Board said bookies won $22.1 million off the Eagles win. That’s a brand-new record in the state, with Las Vegas betting contributing the most to that amount. It surpassed the previous record in 2014 during another blowout, when the Seahawks routed the Broncos 43-8. That number was $19.3 million.

The profit number isn’t even because the game drew a lot of money — it didn’t, which we’ll get into shortly. The record came off the back of an insane hold percentage. It was a whopping 14.6 percent — the highest since 16.5 percent in the aforementioned 2014 game between Seattle and Denver.

Why such a high hold? Well, the public was heavily on the Chiefs to complete a historic three-peat, which would’ve been an NFL first. Kansas City were 1-point favorites, and that bet looked toast by halftime when they were held scoreless.

Not only that, but bettors were overwhelmingly on the under too — which is not the norm. “Casual” fans are more likely to take overs. The over/under line topped out at 48.5 in this matchup. If not for some garbage-time scores form Kansas City, that would’ve hit, but it was not to be.

The lesson here? Blowout victories by underdog teams are the best possible outcome for sportsbooks. That’s the commonality between the 2025 Eagles and 2014 Seahawks. Oh, and killer defenses too. That’s your recipe for a big betting win in the years that follow….

Betting Handle Tanked Big Time

Despite the profit number, actual bets made was down. Down a lot, actually. Only $151.6 million was bet on the game. This is well under the state record of $185.6 million that was set a year ago.

No, that’s not Chiefs “fatigue.” That’s not a knock on the Eagles. The reason for the $34 million drop off is simply proximity. This year’s Super Bowl was in New Orleans. Last year’s Classic between the Chiefs and 49ers? Right there in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium. It was the first time Sin City hosted the big game, and bettors — both local and visitors — came in droves because of it.

“Nothing can really compare to the game being here last year,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “It’s an anomaly when it’s in your backyard. We’ve seen that with other big events here. Anything that’s here, the handle’s crazy.”

The Las Vegas-hosted Super Bowl was an anomaly in terms of betting handle. But even if you toss it out, the latest game did underperform. It was the lowest betting handle since 2021 when, perhaps coincidentally, the Chiefs were blown out too, this time by the Buccaneers. That game only did $136.1 million in bets. This year’s handle was also lower than the Chiefs-Eagles matchup from 2023. That one did
$153.2 million.

So we take that back, maybe there is Chiefs fatigue? Perhaps too many bettors though it would be a foregone conclusion they’d win again? We can only speculate but interest appears to have been down in and around the Las Vegas area.

High Rollers Kept A Low Profile

Betting handles are heavily influenced by “high rollers” with big pockets. This is especially the case in Las Vegas, a city that’s infested with sharks that’ve made at killing at gambling.

Welp, data tells us they helped contribute to the low betting handle by not sizing up for bets. Get this, no sportsbook reported a $1 million bet on the game. Last year? There was eight different bets reported of that size or more.

“The handle wasn’t as robust as last year. Of course, that can be attributed to the event being here and all the high rollers being here for the game,” MGM Resorts director of trading Lamarr Mitchell told the Las Vegas Review Journal. “But going into the game, our best-case scenario was the Eagles win outright and go over. So it was a really, really good win for the house.”

Indeed it was good for the house. Of all the sportsbooks, BetMGM might’ve done the best inside the state (remember apps like DraftKings and FanDuel are banned here so BetMGM leads the local market). The game ended up being the biggest betting event in BetMGM’s history, plus a huge win.

Not only did BetMGM win on the game’s outcome, but props too. Both Saquon Barkley and Travis Kelce underperformed on different player props, which contributed to BetMGM’s big win. Must be nice to be, BetMGM huh?