As the Kansas City Chiefs rewarded the majority of bettors on the outcome of the Super Bowl, in the aftermath BetMGM reflected that the game had been a “bad one for the sportsbook” as Triston Davis told MarketWatch, “Many bettors had the Chiefs winning and overs on popular player props.”
In a statement soon after the Chiefs edged out the 49ers in an overtime win, BetMGM senior trader Tristan Davis revealed that 74% of his company’s total handle had been taken on Kansas, meaning a majority of customers profited.
Plenty of others also gained from a game in which a host of player props went over. The over is always the most popular choice for sports fans backing their heroes so a flurry of standout personal performances on the field further punished some NFL betting operators.
There were some big individual winners too along with a few sizable losers. BetMGM indicated it had taken two wagers of more than $200,000 backing the Chiefs at underdog odds of +110 but at least one in excess of $300,000 favoring the 49ers at -110.
Figures released by the New York State Gaming Commission in the days after the Super Bowl are quite remarkable.
After averaging a Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) - that is the amount retained by the betting firms - of $47.9 million in the opening five weeks of the year, the combined number for the nine top sportsbooks in New York slumped to just $5,056,663 for the seven days to Super Bowl Sunday.
It was indeed BetMGM that took the biggest hit while DraftKings was the operator to profit most from Super Bowl 58 betting activity in New York. In terms of handle, DraftKings and big rivals FanDuel posted figures not far apart.
Caesars and BetMGM persist with their scrap in third and fourth place and the former won't be happy with their overall losses either. Of the rest, BetRivers continues to perform above expectations.
New York legal sportsbooks performance - week ending 2/11/24:
Sportsbook | Handle ($) | GGR ($) | % GGR of Handle |
DraftKings | 52,331,081 | 8,826,191 | 16.87 |
PointsBet | 1,348,668 | 196,294 | 14.55 |
Resorts World | 232,536 | 27,944 | 12.02 |
Bally Bet | 281,585 | 27,079 | 9.62 |
FanDuel | 53,582,663 | 3,693,757 | 6.89 |
BetRivers | 1,543,432 | 79,634 | 5.16 |
WynnBET | 460,295 | 17,337 | 3.77 |
Caesars | 12,514,040 | -970,404 | -8.93 |
BetMGM | 10,862,716 | -4,813,246 | -44.31 |
TOTALS | 133,157,016 | 7,084,586 | 5.32 |
Maybe it wasn’t all bad for BetMGM though, whose execs might reflect on a Super Bowl promotional campaign only rivaled in profile by DraftKings.
BetMGM spent an estimated $50 million on its star-studded Super Bowl advertising effort this year. Featuring former quarterback Tom Brady, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky and actor Vince Vaughn, BetMGM’s promos were everywhere in the Super Bowl buildup.
DraftKings alone, with its Kick of Destiny 2 starring Rob Gronkowski, attracted more hype and attention in the Super Bowl LVIII battle of the sportsbooks. And to some degree, the drive by Entain and MGM Resorts to put their betting brand front and center paid off.
BetMGM doubled its dollars taken in wagers for Super Bowl 58 compared with last year. The betting industry also pointed to a 51% increase in women placing bets on this season’s NFL finale year-on-year. That in itself is notable for brands looking to expand their appeal beyond the traditional SNF/MNF bettor.
Finally, BetMGM is already one of the sportsbooks to have its markets up for Super Bowl 59. Early birds should note however, the brand was one of the best-performing for futures on the 2024 edition, holding nearly 55% of all such bets taken.
