In a record-breaking Super Bowl, the bookies were beaten.
Sportsbooks took massive bets on Super Bowl 2024, with $185.6 million of bets in Las Vegas alone, shattering the previous record of $179.8 million.
Still, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that cumulatively, sportsbooks won $6.8 million (3.7 percent of the 185.6 million of total action), according to Ben Fawkes.
But that small percentage is really just the vig of the game.
All things considered, this is essentially a loss for Vegas, as only $6.8 million profit is pennies compared to the overhead that the buildings need to stay open.
That $6.8 million figure is unlikely to cover the a night of staffing and electric bills across all of the Vegas casinos.
Still, Vegas has only lost money on two Super Bowls since 1991.
But the amount of money taken wasn’t all rosy for the house, which did everything it could to shield itself from liability from massive amounts of public money coming in on the Chiefs.
It would seem that many of the sportsbooks lost money on the game.
“Chiefs and OT were very disappointing,” Circa Sportsbook Director of Operations Jeffrey Benson told Fox Sports.
“However, as always, the lights will come on in the morning. Nobody, including my own mother, feels bad when the house loses.”
Benson also posted a picture of a long line of winning Chiefs bettors waiting at the desk for their money as Kansas City dominated in overtime.
Circa, a powerful sportsbook in Las Vegas, lost on this one, and its not the only one.
BetMGM’s online sportsbook reported a massive Chiefs liability as well, with 72 percent of online bets coming in on Kansas City.
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Meanwhile, Caesars told The Post that 67% of the spread handle was on Kansas City and 59 percent of moneyline money on the Chiefs. This is despite a select few six and seven-figure bets coming in on the 49ers, nearly exclusively at Caesars.
Those sportsbooks definitely lost, but DraftKings reported some strong numbers and it sounded like a winning endeavor for them Sunday.
“We did well overall, much better than I thought we’d do,” DraftKings sports director Johnny Avello told Fawkes. “We did need the 49ers on the side, but when you take into account the whole mix of things, it worked out well for us. We’re pleased with the handle overall.”