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- Super Bowl LIX will see fans spending less on snacks but wagering $1.39 billion.
- Online platforms like DraftKings are increasingly popular for placing bets.
SALT LAKE CITY — Some 75% of Americans report they'll be tuning in to watch Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, and nearly a third say they plan to spend less on the big game this year.
But 4 in 10 viewers will be laying wagers on the outcome of the Kansas City Chiefs-Philadelphia Eagles showdown, and will collectively drop a record $1.39 billion on legal bets related to the 2025 NFL championship.
A new report from LendingTree finds 31% of Super Bowl viewers will cut their game-related budgets this year and half, 50%, say they plan to spend at around the same level as last year.
While only 19% are aiming to shell out more on food, beverages and fan gear as they watch this year's NFL season finale, this group's spending is projected to rise enough to drive up the expected average Super Bowl viewer outlay to $142, an increase of 22% from 2024's $116 average.
In a national survey, LendingTree found 41% of fans planning to watch the game intend to place a bet and that same number will wager $100 or more. Select demographics of those bettors include 66% of Gen Zers, 59% of parents of young kids, 56% of millennials and 51% of men.
Online gambling sites will play a major role in how bettors place wagers with 63% of this year's Super Bowl bettors reporting they'll use sites like DraftKings or FanDuel to place bets, up from 52% last year. Additionally, 41% will bet informally between family and friends and 25% will utilize in-person betting options.
The meteoric rise of U.S. sports betting
Wagering on athletic events has exploded since a landmark 2018 Supreme Court decision that struck down a federal prohibition on state-sponsored sports betting. Since then, 38 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have launched their own sports gambling markets. In 2023, the total sports betting handle — the total amount of money wagered — reached nearly $120 billion, a new record and increase of almost 28% from 2022.
Last November, Missouri voters narrowly passed a state constitutional amendment legalizing sports gambling but the new rules will not be in place in time to accommodate Super Bowl LIX wagering. Utah is among 11 states that currently do not allow sports betting, online, in-person or otherwise, and is one of only two states, along with Hawaii, that continue to ban all forms of gambling.
Earlier this week, the American Gaming Association released its estimate that U.S. bettors will lay $1.39 billion worth of legal Super Bowl-related wagers in 2025. This year marks a change in how the association measures Super Bowl-related betting. The previous estimating model included illegal sportsbooks, pools, squares and casual wagers among friends, according to a report from ESPN. When included, those sources push the total Super Bowl-related wagering into the tens of billions of dollars. The all-inclusive Super Bowl wagering estimate last year hit $23.1 billion.
"No single event unites sports fans like the Super Bowl, and that excitement extends to sports betting, with this year's record legal handle reflecting its widespread appeal," said Bill Miller, American Gaming Association President/CEO in a press release.
The growth of the industry, however, is also a growing concern among public health experts.
A recent Deseret News story notes about 2 million people in the United States struggle with a gambling addiction, according to the National Council of Problem Gambling. In the past three years, the risk of gambling addiction grew by 30%, the organization says.
"We see the expansion of gambling activity not only on our phones, but in our real lives to the point that gambling is not only endemic, but it's so much part of our daily lives that it has changed the fabric of what we do to our body, our brains and our minds," said Timothy Fong, an addiction psychiatrist and co-director of the UCLA Problem Gambling Studies Program, during a forum focused on online gambling issues hosted by Harvard University last month.
More big numbers from the big game
And there are plenty of other big numbers being driven by Super Bowl LIX fervor. Here's a select list as assembled by Front Office Sports:
- $7,388 — average ticket price to attend Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Sounds exorbitant, but this year's average price of admission is down $1,800 from last year's game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
- $650 — average per-night hotel room rate in New Orleans for Super Bowl weekend. A bargain, perhaps, as a follow-up to the Las Vegas hosted Super Bowl LVIII, where rooms were going for an average $747 per night.
- $8 million — cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad spot. Super Bowl broadcaster Fox was charging $7 million per 30-second ad for this year's event initially, matching last year's rate, but the rate has since ballooned. This year's rate represents an 88% increase from a decade ago.
