• Loading stock data...
Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Amid ‘Record’ Super Bowl Betting, Market’s Two Largest Forces Still Reign

The Super Bowl remains one of the top single events of the year for sports betting. Amid a continued expansion of the legal betting market for the event, familiar entities are still dominating.

Feb 5, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles helmets at the Caesars Superdome prior to Super Bowl LIX.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Super Bowl betting market is unquestionably expanding. It’s also hardening, with the established market leaders largely holding their dominant positions and the high-profile event doing little to reshuffle the established industry pecking order.

The American Gaming Association said it estimates $1.39 billion will be bet legally in the U.S. on Super Bowl LIX between the Chiefs and Eagles. That’s an 11% jump from a 2024 Eilers & Krejcik Gaming estimate, as wagering continues to migrate from unregulated activity such as offshore betting and casual activity such as office pools and Super Bowl squares. 

Since last year’s Super Bowl, the key market of North Carolina has started legal sports wagering, while existing betting locales have continued to grow and mature. Based on trends from 759 million regular-season bets, consumer analytics firm Optimove Insights projected the number of Super Bowl bettors will rise 48% from 2024 and surpass the 2023 Kansas City–Philadelphia matchup by 153%. 

Legal Sports Report, meanwhile, projected a $1.5 billion betting handle for Super Bowl LIX, up 15% from a year ago, with New York State’s $183 million leading the way. 

Regardless of the specific metrics, though, there remains little debate that overall growth of the NFL betting market and expansion of legal territories is building the Super Bowl wagering business. 

“This will undoubtedly be a record year for the Super Bowl in terms of that legal activity,” AGA VP of research Dave Forman tells Front Office Sports. “This is on the backs of what we were already seeing in terms of the big rise in NFL handle and market expansion.”

Feb 12, 2023; Glendale, AZ, USA; General view of the coin toss in Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium.
Patrick Breen-Imagn Images

Though 2024 was definitely a slower year for additional states beginning legal sports betting, with just the one addition in North Carolina, the Super Bowl remains a crucial window for sportsbooks, both big and small, to gain new customers and convert some of the squares and office pool participants into active sports bettors.

“This is one of the great times of the year for customer acquisition out there,” Dustin Gouker, a gaming industry consultant, tells FOS. “The Super Bowl is typically No. 2 behind the start of the NFL season, given how football dominates the entire market, but it’s certainly another big chance to bring in new people, and then you’re rolling right into March Madness.”

That Super Bowl appeal is further enhanced this year by the return of the Chiefs and Eagles, both polarizing—but popular—teams with many star players, including Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Philadelphia running back Saquon Barkley. 

FanDuel and DraftKings still collectively control about two-thirds of the overall U.S. betting market, while everybody else battles within the other third. 

Despite high-profile—and heavily backed—market entries in the last two years by major sports industry entities ESPN, Fanatics, and others, the overall market breakdown has only slightly changed since 2023. 

There also likely won’t be a seismic shift anytime soon, as FanDuel and DraftKings are gathering strength and projecting further boosts in their business—building off huge early leads from prior footholds in daily fantasy sports and billions of dollars spent on marketing, advertising, and other user acquisition efforts.

FanDuel parent company Flutter Entertainment last fall reported across-the-board improvements in average monthly players, revenue, and adjusted earnings, and slightly raised its revenue and earnings guidance for the full fiscal year based on these rising trends. DraftKings, similarly, detailed in November a surge in player acquisition and said it was expecting a roughly 31% surge in revenue for its fiscal 2025.  

This season, fewer upsets meant that the betting public cashed in big—a trend described by FanDuel as “the most customer-friendly” set of results to arise since the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow states to set their own rules for sports betting. Though termed “transitory,” that situation, in turn, has cut into some of that near-term revenue and earnings optimism. 

Still, the Coke and Pepsi of the sports betting world are hugely powerful entities, and are expected to broadly reaffirm that when they report their next sets of corporate earnings soon after Super Bowl LIX. 

“It’s still FanDuel and DraftKings by a mile,” Gouker says. “I don’t see anything coming around that’s going to really disrupt that. By the next Super Bowl, somebody new may be challenging for No. 3, but certainly not one of these top two spots.”

Linkedin
Whatsapp
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) fakes a hand off in the first quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome.

Amazon Says It Wants To Broadcast a Super Bowl

Jay Marine says he is ‘optimistic’ about airing the Big Game.
exclusive

The Eagles Play Christmas Day for NFL on Netflix

The father-son duo will call the Christmas Day doubleheader again.

Commanders’ $3.8B D.C. Stadium Nears Key Council Vote

The Commanders’ proposed $3.8 billion stadium deal is poised for final approval.
Dec 25, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Netflix Christmas GameDay cake seen after the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.

‘We Didn’t Get a Test Run’: Greg Olsen on Netflix NFL Christmas..

Greg Olsen said the game was uncharted territory for him.

Featured Today

Premier Lacrosse League

‘The Circus Is Coming to Town’: Why Upstart Leagues Start on Tour

In their ambitious plans, a traveling schedule is only temporary.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 19: A detailed view of the MLB Debut patch on the jersey of Patrick Monteverde #44 of the Miami Marlins prior to game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 19, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
September 13, 2025

The Tiny Jersey Patch at the Center of the MLB Rookie Card..

Autographed cards containing a piece of baseball history have upended the market.
September 11, 2025

Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl Rematch Could Set More NFL Ratings Records

Fox will nationally televise Sunday afternoon’s matchup.
September 10, 2025

ESPN’s ‘MNF’ Ratings Up 8% As NFL Surges to Strong Start

ESPN posts its second-best Week 1 “Monday Night Football” audience.

FanDuel, Jaguars Reach $5M Deal Over Employee Theft

A Jaguars employee stole $20 million and gambled much of it with FanDuel.
Sep 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Adoree' Jackson (8) tackles Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) during the third quarter of the game at Lincoln Financial Field.
September 5, 2025

Kalshi’s $27M NFL Opener Runs Into Tribal Challenge

California Tribes want Kalshi forced to implement geofencing.
Sep 8, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) rushes the ball past Minnesota Vikings safety Theo Jackson (26) during the second half at Soldier Field.
exclusive
September 10, 2025

Americans See Little Difference Between Prediction Markets and Betting

A survey found 85% of respondents believe sports event contracts are gambling.
Sponsored

How World Series Champ Dexter Fowler Became a Premier League Team Owner

Dexter Fowler discusses navigating retirement and embracing new roles as an owner & investor.
Eagles
September 4, 2025

FanDuel Paying $80K for Eagles Trains Amid Transit Funding Fight

The gambling company is giving stopgap transit funding in Philadelphia.
Sep 1, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; TCU Horned Frogs tight end DJ Rogers (0) catches a touchdown pass as North Carolina Tar Heels defensive back Kaleb Cost (21) defends in the fourth quarter at Kenan Stadium.
September 3, 2025

Polymarket Moves Closer to Reentering the U.S.

There’s yet more prediction markets momentum as the NFL season kicks off.
during the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C. Saturday, August 31, 2025.
September 2, 2025

Underdog Bets on Prediction Markets With Crypto.com Deal

Sports event contracts will be offered in 16 states.
Rob Bonta
August 29, 2025

Users Sue Daily Fantasy Companies After California Calls Them Illegal

Underdog Sports and Boom Fantasy were separately sued.