Super Bowl wagering dipped in Pa. sportsbooks without in-state team

HARRISBURG — Super Bowl LVIII set a record for viewership with more than 202 million people watching on broadcast or streaming services, but at Pennsylvania’s retail and online sportsbooks, wagering fell far below the bets placed last year when the Philadelphia Eagles were in the game.

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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board cited preliminary data Wednesday in reporting more than $71.5 million was wagered on last Sunday’s NFL championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers — a 15 percent decrease compared to last year.

The Chiefs won 25-22 in overtime, earning the franchise a third Super Bowl victory in five seasons. For the 49ers, the wait for another title will extend to at least 30 years.

Last year, when the Chiefs beat the Eagles, total wagers in Pennsylvania eclipsed $84.3 million.

After payouts, revenue topped $29.7 million in 2023 compared to the expected $11 million-plus this year.

Legal sports betting is now in its sixth year in the commonwealth and fourth year online. There were more than 875,000 online accounts active in Pennsylvania during Super Bowl weekend compared to 793,000 last year. The online activity data was provided to the Gaming Control Board by geolocation technology service GeoComply.

USA Today reported 123.7 million people watched the game on CBS’s broadcast, the most-watched television program in history.

Combined across all platforms including simulcasts on Nickelodeon and the Spanish-language Univision plus streaming on Paramount+, an estimated 202.4 million people watched all or part of Super Bowl LVIII.

For last year’s Super Bowl, Fox averaged 115 million viewers which, according to NFL Operations, set the previous record. Across all platforms, last year’s game drew 183.6 million viewers for all or part of the game.