PlayUSA Projection: Michigan Sports Bettors Will Wager $45 Million On Super Bowl

Michigan sports bettors are projected to wager $45 million at legal online and retail sportsbooks for Super Bowl LVI, according to a projection from PlayUSA.

Overall, the site is projecting $1 billion in Super Bowl wagers across the country for the Feb. 13 matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals.

The number for Michigan is more than double what was projected for last year’s game when online sports betting was first legalized. Michigan also has some extra interest in this year’s game, as former Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is now taking snaps for the Rams.

National handle could double for Super Bowl LVI

Showing the growth that online sports betting has seen in the past 12 months, this $1 billion projection nearly doubles last year’s handle for the Super Bowl. In 2021, just over $500 million was legally wagered for the event.

“$1 billion in legal wagering on a single game would be an impressive milestone for the industry,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayUSA.com. “It would have seemed impossible just a few years ago to reach such heights, but with the expansion of sports betting over the last year it is inevitable that legal wagering will soar.”

The Super Bowl was the most-wagered-on single sporting event in 2021. In total, more than $50 billion in legal wagers were placed across the country throughout 2021.

Sports betting is legal in some form in 31 different states. Included among those are 11 states that legalized sports betting in the past year.

Michigan projected seventh in Super Bowl betting

In a growing landscape, Michigan still finds itself projected as one of the highest-wagering states for the Super Bowl.

The $45 million projection puts Michigan seventh overall in PlayUSA’s analysis.

Here’s how the top-11 looks:

• 1. Nevada: $175 million
• 2. New York: $160 million
• 3. New Jersey: $130 million
• 4. Illinois: $75 million
• 5. Pennsylvania: $70 million
• 6. Arizona: $55 million
• 7. Michigan: $45 million
• 8. Indiana: $40 million
• 9. Colorado: $35 million
• 10. Louisiana: $35 million
• 11. Virginia: $35 million

Michigan was projected to wager $20 million on the Super Bowl a year ago, a conservative projection compared to this year due to the newness of Michigan’s online sports betting market.

First chance to compare Michigan betting numbers year-to-year

February 2022 will be an interesting month to analyze for Michigan online sports betting.

February 2021 was the first full month of online sports betting being legalized following the Jan. 22 launch.

Last year, the month of February reported $301.9 million in wagers. That led to $9.4 million in gross revenue for the 12 sports betting sites at the time.

Last February’s numbers ended up ranking sixth for the year in terms of largest monthly handle. Michigan has seen over $460 million in handle the last three months of 2021. January 2022 numbers have not been released as of this writing.