The idea was heard more than once in the week leading up to the NFL grand finale. The Super Bowl should be organized in Las Vegas every year. The gaming capital of the world hosted the biggest game of the American football season for the first time. With no final numbers available, Sunday's event has already left two great records. It is the most-watched program in the history of television in the United States and sparked the largest betting exchange since its legalization. “I can say with certainty that we hope to return,” league commissioner Roger Goodell said at the ceremony where New Orleans received the baton for 2025.
“I think we had a very successful Super Bowl. The state of Louisiana and New Orleans have a very high bar right now. “You look a little nervous,” Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo joked. At a news conference after a week of activity in Las Vegas, city officials half-seriously and half-jokingly told Goodell to forget about the rotation that has carried the big NFL game across the country since its third edition in 1969. “I think I already got the message, they want another Super Bowl in Las Vegas,” the commissioner replied.
Las Vegas has been an attractive tourist destination for years. It has 150,000 hotel rooms and an extensive catalog of shows. However, the city has never been considered a sports capital. This has changed in recent years. In 2017, it welcomed its first ice hockey team, the Golden Knights, who became champions in 2023. In November, the relocation of the Oakland Athletics baseball team to the city was confirmed, which will play in a temporary stadium until its permanent home in 2028. Many consider the arrival of the NBA to be inevitable. The WNBA, the women's basketball league, has had a team there since 2018. They have been champions in a row in each of the last two seasons.
The A's aren't the first team to steal Las Vegas from Oakland. From there came the NFL's Raiders in 2020. The Raiders landing in Las Vegas opened the door for the world to watch Patrick Mahomes win his third championship. An unwritten NFL rule prevents a city without a team in the league from hosting a Super Bowl, an event that generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for thousands of companies and industries. The Chamber of Commerce estimated the party would make about $215 million in profits.
The NFL appears to have reduced the number of cities in which it hosts its finals in recent years. The weather favors the West, which has received more finals in recent years. Los Angeles will host its second Super Bowl in five years in 2027. The 2026 tournament will also be held in California, home of the 49ers, who escaped the championship for the sixth time on Sunday against the Chiefs. The venue will be Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara as other venues missed the opportunity to focus on this year's World Cup.
In the game's history, 29 of 57 games have been played in just three metropolitan areas: Miami, Los Angeles and New Orleans. The latter will receive its eleventh Super Bowl next year. It will be the sixth game the Saints have played in the Superdome. Everything indicates that Las Vegas will join the rotation of these cities.
NFL fans play on one of the machines at the Mandalay Bay Casino.ETIENNE LAURENT (EFE)
Betting record
The casino industry in Nevada made a profit of six million dollars after the game. The figure has not yet been audited, but represents 3.7% of total bets crossed, or $185.6 million. According to the agency that regulates gambling in the state, it is the highest amount on record. The previous record from the 2022 Super Bowl between the Rams and the Bengals ($179 million) was broken. However, this match resulted in a larger winning margin of approximately 11 million (6.2%).
Betting numbers are higher nationwide. Estimates suggest that about $1.5 billion would be at stake. Six out of four games were in favor of Kansas City, which was slightly behind in terms of chances of winning. This resulted in losses of around 4% for betting shops across the country. According to Macquarie Securities, this equates to about $64 million.
“The game has sparked a lot of interest among a new demographic, women,” said Macquarie analyst Chad Beynon, citing the strong influence of Taylor Swift. “We view Super Bowl 58 as very positive for sports betting,” he added.
The casinos' losses would have been greater if gamblers in Kansas and San Francisco had had a better night. The stars of both teams performed below expected numbers. This Super Bowl set more attractive records off the field than on the field. In a game where there were only four touchdowns, the most striking impression that the finale left in Las Vegas was the number of field goals made by a single kicker. It belongs to Harrison Butker of the Chiefs with nine.
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