The American Gaming Association predicted Super Bowl LVI would have the most dollars bet on a game ever. But, heavy action doesn’t guarantee a profit for the places that take bets, so operators rely on customer losses to turn a profit on wagers.
The Connecticut Lottery Corporation said it profited from the Super Bowl both on mobile and in-person betting operations.
“At retail, [Bobby V’s Restaurant and Sports Bar in Windsor Locks and Bobby V’s in Stamford] had a successful weekend, taking in at least $100,000 each, on both Saturday and Sunday,” said Andrew Walter, the director of legal and business affairs for Connecticut Lottery Corporation’s sports betting division. “The Super Bowl was successful from a financial standpoint, as well, achieving a low double-digits hold in both channels.” Walter said the Cincinnati Bengals loss — and Los Angeles Rams inability to cover the point spread — helped make it a profitable game for Connecticut Lottery’s sportsbook.
The outcome of the Super Bowl always matters for betting operators, because it could mean big wins or losses for them, too. The state of Rhode Island and operator Twin River Casino lost $2.4 million in 2019 because 77 percent of bets came in on the eventual winner, the New England Patriots.
Connecticut may not be as unlucky this year. The state may collect revenue off of this Super Bowl, which was the first one played since sports betting went live in Connecticut last year. But, it’s not clear how much total revenue that would be.
The Lottery and the two tribal nations that run the Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun casinos, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations, pay the state a 13.75 percent tax on sports betting revenue.
Both the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes wouldn’t offer any details on revenue.
The sports betting partner of the Mashantucket Pequots, DraftKings, did give Connecticut Public an illustration of how its sportsbook performed in Connecticut against certain bets. Based on numbers provided by DraftKings, the operator benefited off of the Rams victory and a total game score that came in under 48.5 combined points. It didn’t fare as well on point spread bets and three out of the five of its most popular prop bets. But that information from DraftKings doesn’t reveal whether a profit was turned on the night.
"Foxwoods and DraftKings enjoyed a strong weekend of sports betting, consistent with our expectations for a Super Bowl,” said Anika Howard, the president and CEO of Mashantucket Pequot Interactive. “Given what we saw in betting patterns, and the outcome of the game, we had a lot of happy customers."
Mohegan Sun’s sports betting partner FanDuel wouldn’t give out the kind of figures DraftKings provided. It just highlighted a couple options bettors had for the game.
“New FanDuel Sportsbook customers also had a great night with the Rams comeback —$38 million was paid out to new customers as part of FanDuel Sportsbook’s 56-1 offer,” said Kevin Hennessy, director of publicity at FanDuel. “Overall, even though the Rams won the game, they did not cover the 4.5 point spread, giving some solace to Bengals bettors who won more than $17 million on the spread market in pre-match betting.”
That quote is part of a larger statement from FanDuel and Mohegan Sun, which did not say whether the operation profited on Super Bowl LVI.
More information may be available when the state posts February gambling data on March 15.
If sports betting and reporting on the subject triggers you, there’s a way to get help. You can call the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling at 1-888-789-7777 or text “CTGAMB” to 53342. More information is also available at https://ccpg.org/.
