Nevada’s numerous sportsbooks broke the Super Bowl record with a record $139 million in sports bets being placed on Super Bowl 51, according to the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Referred to as the “handle” by US sportsbook,s the amount wagered beat Superbowl L (50 for those who don’t know their Roman) by almost $6 million, and the sportsbooks banked almost $10.9m in profit, showing a blended market margin of 7.8%, which is down from the 10% the bookies won from Super Bowl 50, but still a decent and healthy margin.
Nevada’s sportsbooks have now come out ahead in 9 straight Super Bowls, and have only lost twice since 1990. The improved betting numbers in Vegas might be some what of a surprise given the TV audience was down Vs 2015 and 2014 at “just” 111 million. Maybe the missing viewers were crowded into Vegas sportsbooks!