The Super Bowl is poised to have a higher handle than any other iteration of the game in Nevada’s sports betting history, experts say.
The state set its Super Bowl handle record in 2022, when $179 million was bet in Nevada on the Los Angeles Rams-Cincinnati Bengals game, said Jason McCormick, vice president of race and sports at Station Casinos. With this year’s game in Las Vegas, and two immensely popular teams facing off, it’s almost a “no-brainer” that Nevada will set a new record, McCormick said.
“It’s just a matter of, by how much?” he said.
Among the reasons, McCormick said, is that Super Bowl Sunday has become a de facto national holiday, and everyone, it seems wants to participate in some manner.
“It’s really hard to get away from Super Bowl Sunday,” McCormick said. “So you see so many people that aren’t an avid sports fan or even (a casual sports bettor), traditionally — they jump in the waters on Super Bowl Sunday because they just want to be a part of what’s going on.”
Between the dedicated fan bases of this year’s participating teams — the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers — the number of fantastic venues throughout the city and the celebrities that the Super Bowl will undoubtedly attract, the handle this year will almost surely be more than ever, said Jay Kornegay, executive vice president at the Westgate’s SuperBook.
“This city was built to host this event,” he said. “And now we have our opportunity to do so. And, as always, Las Vegas will bring their A-game and entertain all these fans that will be visiting our city.”
Preparing for the Super Bowl
Station Casinos, which operates multiple properties throughout the Las Vegas Valley, has been planning for Super Bowl 58 since fall 2023, McCormick said, from how to offer guests multiple ways to wager — on mobile, at kiosks or over the counter — to walking the sportsbook floor to ensure that queues are efficient for guests.
“My biggest focus in this preparation is, how do we make it easy and convenient for our guests to get in and out of our sportsbooks?” he said. “To be able to make their wagers? How do we ensure that we’ve got the best, friendly and knowledgeable staff, to be able to walk them through making these wagers?”
David Horn, vice president and general manager at Durango Resort — Station’s latest luxury venture — said many venues for watching the Super Bowl at the property are already booked solid.
Like several other Las Vegas resorts, the Durango — which Horn described as very “food and beverage-centric” — is offering guests a slew of ways to enjoy the game. He pointed specifically to the George Sportsmen’s Lounge, a 24-hour sports-viewing and entertainment venue that works with the resort’s sportsbook to create a special experience for guests.
A food-and-beverage package to view the Super Bowl at the George costs $250, according to the lounge’s website.
Resorts like the Durango that are off the Strip are a good option not just for locals, but for people coming in from out of town as well, Horn said.
“The demand is certainly there from the local side of things,” he said of the Durango’s offerings around the Super Bowl. “But I think it’s important to know, if you’re a tourist coming to the Strip, they’re gonna be really busy and there’ll be a lot of traffic and there’ll be a lot of charged parking.”
Guests shouldn’t expect they’re going to walk up to a sportsbook and have seating on Super Bowl Sunday, Mike Palm, vice president of operations for the D, Golden Gate and Circa, emphasized. He recommended that they figure out sooner rather than later which venues still have availability and try to make reservations as soon as possible.
There will be six large Super Bowl parties, four of which are open to the public, across the D, Golden Gate and Circa Las Vegas, Palm said. Stadium Swim at Circa will host about 2,500 people, he said, and the resort’s sportsbook will have upwards of 800 to 900 people.
Space at the sportsbook is already scarce, he said.
“Las Vegas is always the best place to be, wherever the Super Bowl is played — whether it’s in Miami or New York or Houston or New Orleans or at the Rose Bowl,” he said. “People have been coming here (on Super Bowl Sunday) for generations, and usually in groups, to watch the game in a party atmosphere and have that ability to bet on the games, as well.”
Prop bets are the name of the game
McCormick advised that anyone who can, particularly locals, make their decisions on their propositions and place their bets earlier in the week rather than later, to avoid a long wait time. He added that they should also sign up on Station’s mobile sports-betting app, to place wagers right up to and during the game. Casinos throughout Las Vegas offer similar sports betting apps.
There will likely be up to 40 pages of prop offerings at Station’s casinos, McCormick said, referring to the side bets around the game. There will even be a bet on whether Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce will have fewer or more receptions than his girlfriend, singer-songwriter and pop icon Taylor Swift, has platinum albums.
Swift has 10 platinum albums.
Though many people have made inquiries about other, more entertainment-oriented props around the Kelce-Swift relationship — like how many times the broadcast will show Swift if she attends the game or what color lipstick she will wear — Kornegay said most of those props are not approved in Nevada.
Kornegay said the SuperBook would likely offer just over 500 propositions, which equates to thousands of betting options. About 68% of the total Super Bowl handle is on props nowadays, he said, noting that he can’t believe how popular those sorts of bets have become over the year. Initially, he said, the prop bets began as a way to keep sports bettors entertained during a blowout game.
“What everybody’s finding out (is) that Americans love their sports,” he said, “and they love betting on their sports.”
The Super Bowl being in Las Vegas is “surreal,” Kornegay said, since the city was considered a dark horse for live sports for so long, because of its sports betting foundation. It used to be that Las Vegas couldn’t even advertise on the Super Bowl broadcast, he reminded people.
“We told them decades ago that we were on the same side,” he said of the NFL, emphasizing the great relationship the league has since developed with Las Vegas. “That we were here to protect the game just as much as they were. Integrity is our product as well — we don’t want to be taking wagers on something that’s predetermined. So, we were always trying to do our best to protect the integrity of all sports.”
A successful Super Bowl in Las Vegas will inevitably propel sports betting in other jurisdictions, Kornegay said.
“Those that are in jurisdictions that are on the fence right now, seeing what happened in Las Vegas and how they were able to host the Super Bowl, I can only imagine that it’s going to be more popular than ever,” he said. “We already see that … the national numbers are just skyrocketing right now.”
katieann.mccarver@ gmgvegas.com / 702-990-8926 / @_katieann13_