Super Bowl: FanDuel sees record handle and bet365 takes more bets on a Kelce TD than 49ers

Super Bowl LVIII, which saw the Kansas City Chiefs retain their crown in a 25-22 overtime win against the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas, will go down as one of the largest betting events of the year.

As sports betting continues to grow in the US, and with international attention also firmly fixed on the Super Bowl, operators will have seen a tsunami of stakes flood onto their platforms.

According to data from the Nevada Gaming Control Board, the game drove huge amounts of interest in what was the first Super Bowl held in Sin City, with a record breaking $185.6m wagered in Nevada across 182 sportsbooks.

But away from the desert, social media has been stacked with extraordinary figures from operators and bettors on what will be one of the largest events of the betting calendar, with Eilers and Krejcik Gaming (EKG) expecting it to account for 1% of US operators’ handle in 2024.

Sticking with EKG, the analyst firm reported that FanDuel and DraftKings had ceded almost 2,300 bps of online sports betting app download share to the likes of ESPN Bet, Hard Rock Digital and bet365 over the weekend.

Hard Rock Digital, as per EKG estimates, was more downloaded than ESPN Bet. EKG said: “It’s clear HRD isn’t idling in Florida despite the absence of legal OSB competition”.

As detailed by EKG MD Chris Krafcik on LinkedIn, the firm also added that Super Bowl week downloads across the eight leading brands in the market were down 7% year on year.

Finally, EKG added that same game parlays were helped with star names failing to hit their overs, with FanDuel and DraftKings expected to hit mid-teens hold percentages.

The Super Bowl attracted millions of viewers, while bettors flocked to the event, including hip-hop artist Drake wagering over $1m on a Chiefs win with crypto-first operator Stake.

Mad markets

Fanatics Sportsbook released stats prior to kick-off which showed that one of its customers in Michigan wagered $540,000 on the Chiefs (+4.5) at -180, which had a payout of $840,024.

Though the coin toss market was not available in all states, Fanatics saw 52% of that handle on tails – the 49ers correctly called heads and opted to defer the ball.

When calling the colour of the Gatorade poured on the winning coach, 60% of handle was on purple, Fanatics reported, with the next being orange at 19% and blue at 12%. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was drenched in purple Gatorade for the second year running.

The operator said the most popular same game parlay selection was 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey ‘anytime touchdown scorer’ at -240, with the former Carolina Panthers star scoring the game’s first touchdown.

Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce, was the second most popular same game parlay selection at -110 for an anytime touchdown but failed to find the end zone.

The biggest market prior to the game was the Chiefs moneyline at +110, which saw 67% of the bets and 75% of the handle.

Despite winning MVP in every Super Bowl he’s won, Patrick Mahomes was the third favourite selection by handle by Fanatics users, with McCaffrey leading the way at +475 and Kelce second at +1600. Mahomes was +125.

Elsewhere, FanDuel saw 14 million total bets placed on its platform and generated a new high of $307m in handle for a Super Bowl, making it the Flutter-owned operator’s biggest staking event ever.

One player won $11.4k from a $15 same game parlay, while 2.5 million active users placed a bet on the game.

Rob Gronkowski’s “kick of destiny” miss led to correct players sharing $10m in bonus bets between them.

The operator view 

At bet365, one customer saw a return of $9,510 on a $10, eight-leg same game parlay which included player receptions and rushing attempts.

A bet365 spokesperson said: “Last year’s epic NFL finale was the worst in recent memory for bet365, and with the two outright favourites lining up against each other in Las Vegas, it threatened to be a similar story this time around.

“While there were plenty of winning bets for our customers this time around, the low-scoring nature of the game meant it wasn’t the hammering that we’d feared.

“On Sunday, we felt the full force of Travis Kelce’s popularity. We saw more bets placed on Kelce to score a TD than we did on San Francisco to win the game, a trend that continued right up until kick-off.

“Almost as popular as Kelce are bet365’s bet builders. Almost 56% of all bets before the game were placed on bet builders, with customers around the world enjoying the ability to combine the most popular markets from the NFL Championship game into one bet.”

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said the eventual winners headed into the game as slight underdogs in what was a close contest.

Gill said: “Super Bowl Sunday topped the turnover charts for the weekend as the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes continue to build their dynasty with a thrilling overtime win.

“Despite having the superstar quarterback, the Chiefs went into the game slight underdogs, and a tetchy first quarter ending 0-0 was what the bookies were looking to see.

“However, the Chiefs touchdown with seconds left on the overtime clock left us just marginally behind as punters had faith in Mahomes to lead his team to back-to-back Super Bowls, which he duly delivered. All told however, there wasn’t much in it all things considered.”

The underdog narrative was a theme for Betfred, with Alan Firkins pointing out that many players still backed the AFC West team to triumph.

“Super Bowl is always a hugely popular betting event, and we saw an absolute thriller in Las Vegas […] as the drama unfolded however KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes confirmed his status as an all-time great, engineering several crucial, clutch plays that eventually led to the match-winning score from wide receiver Mecole Hardman.

“It was draining, absorbing and an absolute classic. Kansas City were narrow underdogs but were still the choice of many good judges. They became the first side for 20 years to win back-to-back Lombardi trophies, and have won three in the last five years.

“Mahomes has been MVP in each and every one – a generational talent.”

Elsewhere, sports betting supplier Kambi said: “Total handle was more than 150% higher than the 2023 UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan – the second biggest event on the Kambi network.

“Although he put on an MVP performance, neither Mahomes nor his fellow quarterback Brock Purdy featured in the top three most popular players to bet on, with that accolade going the way of 49ers’ running back Christian McCaffrey, followed by Travis Kelce and Isiah Pacheco of the Chiefs.

“The importance of offering a comprehensive range of player props before and during the event was underlined by their rise to 26% of total handle on Super Bowl LVIII, up from 20% on Super Bowl LVII.”

Finally, and proof if there is a market people will bet on it, there was controversy around the national anthem.

Some operators had offered a market on the length of the Star Spangled Banner ahead of kick-off. However, singer Reba McEntire’s double use of the word ‘brave’ would cause confusion for bettors.

Eventually, some firms paid out on over 90.5 seconds despite Reba McEntire’s first ‘brave’ being clocked at 87 seconds. BetMGM were one of the operators to pay out on both.