The American Gaming Association predicts that $4.2 billion will be wagered by Americans surrounding Super Bowl 50.
www.forbes.com|By Darren Heitner
$4.2 Billion To Be Wagered On Super Bowl 50
I cover the intersection of sports and money.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
Darren Adam Heitner, Esq. is the Founder of HEITNER LEGAL, Founder/CEO of Dynasty Dealings, LLC, Professor of Sports Law at the University of Florida and University of Florida Levin College of Law and Founder/Chief Editor of Sports Agent Blog, a leading niche industry publication. He is an attorney licensed to practice on the state and federal level, and focuses on sports, entertainment, and intellectual property litigation and transactional work. Darren is the author of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know (published by the American Bar Association), Contributing Writer of An Athlete’s Guide to Agents, 5th Edition, and has authored many sports, entertainment and intellectual property-related Law Journal articles. Darren has a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Florida and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the same institution.
The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer.
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Additionally, the AGA claims that 97% of the $4.2 billion in bets on Super Bowl 50 will be made illegally .
Super Bowl betting is popular among the masses, but it only makes up a small portion of the overall amount of betting that occurs throughout the year. The AGA estimates that $149 billion was wagered by Americans in 2015 alone, up from roughly $145 billion in 2014.
Super Bowl proposition bets are displayed on a board at the Westgate Superbook race and sports book Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
The AGA obviously has a mission in mind with releasing figures related to the overwhelming amount of bets that are placed illegally. It is a national trade group that represents the $240 billion U.S. casino industry, which includes commercial and tribal casino operators, suppliers and other entities affiliated with the gaming industry.
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Meanwhile, individuals will continue to place bets illegally throughout the U.S., on the Super Bowl and many other sporting events. If you want to place a legal bet on the outcome of the game, you may be left with little choice but to travel to Nevada, where there are plentiful opportunities to make wagers in a legal fashion.
For instance, William Hill, the United Kingdom’s biggest gambling company, offered 690 ways to bet on last year’s Super Bowl match-up between the Patriots and Seahawks, throughout 104 legal locations in Nevada and via its mobile app to Nevada residents. Perhaps some day such robust technology will be available to users in other states as well.
For now, the vast majority of Americans betting on the Super Bowl will do so illegally, to the tune of billions of dollars.
Darren Heitner is a lawyer and the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C., which has a focus on Sports Law and Entertainment Law.