The Philadelphia Eagles not participating in Super Bowl 58 proved to have a significant impact. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) reported that the state generated $71.6 million in Super Bowl handle this year, a 15% decrease from last season.
That number is slightly lower than the total projected by Legal Sports Report (LSR) last week.
Keystone State sportsbooks report over $70 million in Super Bowl handle
On the single biggest day of the NFL season, Super Bowl betting in Pennsylvania took a bit of a hit, and it’s likely due to the Eagles losing in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The PGCB broke down the handle between online and retail options:
- PA online sportsbooks: $64.7 million
- Retail sportsbooks: $6.9 million
In terms of revenue, Pennsylvania sportsbooks produced just $11.1 million, compared to $29.7 million last year.
Operators just wrapped up the sixth full season of legal NFL betting and the fourth of which players could wager online. It’s the largest non-Eagles Super Bowl in terms of total bets. Here are the previous handle results:
- 2020: $30.7 million
- 2021: $53.6 million
- 2022: $68 million
- 2023: $84.3 million
- 2024: $71.6 million
This year’s revenue total doesn’t come anywhere close to last year, which makes a ton of sense. According to DraftKings PA Sportsbook, the game closed with 58% of the bets and 62% of the handle on the Chiefs to cover the spread. About 71% of bets and 61% of the handle came in on the Chiefs to win outright, too.
It wasn’t the outcome sportsbooks were looking for. Here are the following Super Bowl revenue totals since sports betting became legal:
- 2020: -$3.3 million
- 2021: $9.4 million
- 2022: $4.6 million
- 2023: $29.7 million
- 2024: $11.1 million
Lower Super Bowl handle, but more participants in Pennsylvania
LSR had reported last week that the Keystone State could generate around $85 million in handle on the big game.
Those in the state clearly cut back on the betting amount after posting $84.3 million in handle last year. However, more people got involved. The number of bettors climbed over the weekend compared to 2023, according to the PGCB. Courtesy of GeoComply, the PGCB said:
“The Board also reports that there were more than 875,000 online betting accounts that were
active in Pennsylvania during the Super Bowl weekend per data from geolocation technology
service GeoComply. That is up from the 793,000 reported by GeoComply last year. Additionally, GeoComply reported that it conducted more than 13.6 million geolocation checks during the weekend to ensure that the wagering activity was being conducted by individuals who were within Pennsylvania and were authorized to conduct wagering on a site.”
Those figures did not include anyone betting at retail sportsbooks within the state.
Even though LSR was slightly off, it was still considered the best Super Bowl ever, in terms of handle, for operators without a Pennsylvania team in the game.
Should the Eagles ever make it back to a Super Bowl anytime soon, a handle north of $85 million would be expected. Even a Steelers Super Bowl berth would increase the betting action, too.
