Super Bowl 2023 Commentary – Zak Cutler, President of Global Gaming, Paysafe

Super Bowl LVII – pitting the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium in Arizona – will make U.S. online sports-betting history, as the first time America’s biggest sporting event plays out in a state where iGaming is regulated. Smart phones are now the go-to device for U.S. online sports bettors, with 54% of American players wagering with either an iPhone or Android phone, according to our Q4 2022 research. We can expect to see both Chiefs and Eagles fans in the State Farm Stadium placing bets live on their phones before the game and as it’s played.

“And beyond the stadium itself, betting volumes will almost certainly surge. American online sports bettors tend to wager more than other global players, with the average U.S. player wagering $97 compared to $59.1 in the mature U.K. iGaming market and $47.3 in the Canadian province of Ontario, according to our recent research. But we can expect U.S. players’ bets to increase even more for the Super Bowl, with our recent research indicating that players’ wager sizes rise around major sporting events – and there is no event bigger than the Super Bowl.

“Connected to this, Super Bowl LVII will almost certainly attract more high-stakes, VIP sports bettors than an NFL regular season game. You’ll see sportsbooks tailoring their payment stacks and cashiers to serve this player segment, with the need to offer payment methods supporting higher deposit limits like our Skrill digital wallet. In addition, a digital wallet tends to be the go-to alternative payment method (APM) for all players, but it’s a VIP’s favorite payment method among all other solutions, according to our Q4 research. In short, we expect a surge in demand for our Skrill solution as we count-down to Sunday and on the day itself.

“And in terms of the bigger picture, we’ll likely see payment volumes break new records for Super Bowl LVII. We saw volumes pretty much double between 2021 and last year’s Super Bowl, and expect similar or even great growth this year, with the regulated North America iGaming market having expanded over the last 12 months to include Ohio, Maryland, Kansas, and Arkansas, as well as Ontario, Canada’s most populated province.” – Zak Cutler, President of Global Gaming, Paysafe.