PINE BLUFF, Ark. — We're less than one week away from Super Bowl LVIII where the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers.
Being so close to the big game means that casinos have been filling up with people who are preparing to place their bets.
"The NFL is our number one most bet sport," said Neal Atkinson the Senior Director of Table Games and Sportsbook operations at Saracen Casino Resort.
Arkansas lawmakers first approved casino gaming back in 2018, and the industry has continued to grow ever since.
"Three of those four licenses are now in operation. Oaklawn (Hot Springs) and Southland (West Memphis) received licenses in 2019 to operate as full casinos. A third license was issued to a new location, Saracen Casino (Pine Bluff)," said Scott Hardin with the Arkansas Department of Finance.
Atkinson emphasized how the Super Bowl is the biggest sports betting event of the year.
"We have seen the revenues from last year to this year. With how many bets people are making, [they] almost double year over year," Atkinson added.
According to Hardin, in 2023, legal sports wagers in Arkansas increased to $404 million or $1.1 million on average per day. The state collected $5.53 million in taxes from sports betting last year and Super Bowl wagers increased to $3 million.
"We may see total sports wagers reach half a billion dollars this year in Arkansas. Sports betting was not a significant source of casino revenue for the first few years of casino gaming in Arkansas. That is now changing thanks to the mobile option," he said. "We want to be sure Arkansans understand the only way to legally place a sports wager in Arkansas is at one of the state’s casinos or through their apps. Placing a wager through another party that is not one of the state’s licensed casinos does not fall within legal sports betting."
That increase in revenue does not just apply to the state. Atkinson said their casino has been seeing it too, especially when the Kansas City Chiefs are one of the teams playing in the game.
"If last year is any indication, the players had a very good Super Bowl with Kansas City winning in a high-scoring game. We paid out over $1.3 million in winnings last year [and] if we get a similar result to last year, that number is going to be a much bigger number," Atkinson described.
He also said that he's noticed a shift in bets. Usually, Arkansans bet on college teams but now this year they're leaning more toward pro sports, especially the NFL.
"This time of year, it is all about the NFL, and college basketball. Of course this Sunday it's all going to be about football," Atkinson added.
The beauty of the Super Bowl is that has a little bit of something for everyone. If you can't focus on the teams that are playing you can always place a bet on Taylor Swift.
"Super Bowl people are all about the pro bets. You know, we have the Taylor Swift effect even more this year. And a lot of people really do like to bet. Travis Kelce bets and their individual player bets too," he said.
As a reminder, even though you'll see a lot of ads for things like Fan Duel and Draft Kings, only the mobile apps by Saracen, Southland, and Oaklawn are legal in the state of Arkansas.