LAS VEGAS – Nevada sportsbooks won $18.77 million from bettors on Super Bowl 54 from overall handle of $154.68 million on the Kansas City Chiefs’ 31-20 victory over the San Francisco 49ers, according to figures released Tuesday morning by the state’s Gaming Control Board.

“We’re pleased with the results, and why wouldn’t we be?” Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the GCB, asked rhetorically. “This was second-highest in win, second-highest in write [handle]. From our understanding, the game coming in Under was very important.”

The win was second only to the $19.67 million the books won in 2014’s Super Bowl 48 when the Seattle Seahawks upset the Denver Broncos in a 43-8 rout. This year’s hold percentage was 12.1 percent, which was the most since that 2014 game but well short of the record 17 percent hold in 2005 when the New England Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21. This year’s handle was more than last year’s $145.9 million, but fell short of the record of nearly $158.6 million two years ago in the Eagles’ 41-33 upset of the Patriots.

“From talking to the licensees, the one thing holding us back from setting a record was the small point spread as bettors had a hard time picking a side and then just bet either the spread or the money line but not both,” Lawton said. “But we still came up just 2.5 percent, $3.9 million short of the record [handle]. The handle was helped by the fact the game was exciting and induced a lot of in-game wagers.”

Nevada sportsbooks have shown a profit in 28 of the 30 Super Bowls since the state’s Gaming Control Board began releasing the betting results in 1991.

Meanwhile, New Jersey is 0-2 in its first two Super Bowls since legislation as the Garden State lost $4.28 million on an overall handle of $54.3 million. Those both sets records as the loss was less than the $4.57 million loss last year and exceeded last year’s $34.89 million handle.

Jersey’s two losses have resulted from a combination of having more lopsided handle on the favored Patriots last year (regional bias) and the Chiefs this year (sentimental wagers on K.C. coach Andy Reid) as well as promotional wagers, free bets, odds boosts, etc. that have been offered to try and attract new business. This was especially true last year when FanDuel reported a $5 million partly due to offering 53/1 odds on either team in Super Bowl 53 with the vast majority of customers taking the Patriots.

Nick Bogdanovich, director of trading for William Hill’s U.S. books, told VSiN that his company profited in Nevada (thanks to an influx of 49ers money) while their other books, especially back East, suffered losses. That’s reflected in the figures from other states.

Pennsylvania (where Reid formerly coached in Philadelphia) handled $30.7 million and lost $3.3 million.

Rhode Island handled $5.5 million (down from $6.5 million last year when New England was involved) and won $805,000, an impressive hold of 14.6 percent (after losing $2.35 million last year).

Oregon handled $2 million and won just $150,000.

Mississippi handled $6.7 million but hasn’t released its win/loss yet.

The other states where sports betting is legal (14 states in all after eight last year) haven’t released their Super Bowl figures.

Nevada Super Bowl Betting Results
 

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Source: Nevada Gaming Control Board