Betting odds for Super Bowl 55 are displayed on monitors at the Circa resort and casino sports book on Wednesday in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)
Gaming officials expect COVID-19 restrictions will reduce the amount of money gamblers bet on this Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Gaming Control Board Analyst Mike Lawton said the issue is capacity restrictions in place at the sports books.
“In Nevada, Super Bowl handle is driven by visitation dollars and Las Vegas along with other areas across the state are destination markets for customers to come and wager on the game,” he said. “Due to the capacity limits operators are required to comply with, we estimate that betting totals will be softer when compared to amounts recorded over the last few years in spite of a great match.”
Lawton said mobile betting, which has seen a major increase since the pandemic hit, will offset that reduction, but not enough to overcome the reduced level of visitation at the sports books.
The betting line has held steady for the past week with the Kansas City Chiefs favored by 3 ½ over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Lawton said he should have numbers including the amount wagered and how much the books won or lost by Tuesday.
