Eagles' Super Bowls have been unlucky for Nevada sportsbooks. Will this year be different?
In this week’s Indy Gaming, we look back at last year’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas and ahead to Sunday’s game. Also, meet the newest member of the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
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When it was clear Sunday’s Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans would feature the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Red Rock Resorts Vice President of Sports Betting Jason McCormick began to worry.
The teams met in the Super Bowl two years ago in Phoenix, which resulted in Nevada sportsbooks’ second-lowest wagering total in the last five NFL championship games — $153.2 million.
Five years earlier, the Eagles beat the New England Patriots in a Super Bowl played in Minneapolis. At the time, the game produced the highest wagering handle ever seen by Nevada — $158.6 million. However, the Eagles’ upset win led to the most lopsided result experienced by sportsbooks in more than 10 years, with gamblers collecting 99.3 percent of all wagers.
“Two of the worst Super Bowls for Nevada in the last dozen years involved the Philadelphia Eagles,” McCormick said. “Nevada sportsbooks have not been fans of the Eagles. They haven't been a winning solution for us. Hopefully, we can flip the script a little bit.”
The Super Bowl has long been one of Las Vegas' busiest weekends. Northern Nevada sportsbooks often benefit when the San Francisco 49ers participate or the game is played in the Bay Area.
Several six- and seven-figure wagers have already been placed on the game, according to sportsbook operators. Also, hundreds of normal to outlandish proposition wagers are available — such as predicting the winner of the opening coin toss, who scores the first touchdown, the total number of field goals and how many songs Kendrick Lamar performs at halftime.
But the safest bet (not listed by the sportsbooks) is that Nevada’s Super Bowl wagering record of more than $185.6 million — set last year when the game was played at Allegiant Stadium — will not be broken.
McCormick suggested that having the game in Las Vegas was the overriding factor last year.
Allegiant Stadium is an easy walk from the Strip, where resorts were filled beyond the normal Super Bowl crowd. Some 30,000 football fans paid $30 a ticket to attend Super Bowl week’s opening night with both teams in attendance.
Mandalay Bay was the primary spot for all things Super Bowl. The convention complex was turned into the 700,000-square-foot Super Bowl Experience — an indoor NFL theme park that attracted fans in the days leading up to the game.
McCormick said the 49ers drew bettors because of the team’s Northern Nevada fan base.
Before last year’s Super Bowl, Nevada sportsbooks saw their largest handle in 2022, when $179.8 million was bet on the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals. The game was played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and the Rams won 23-20. The sportsbooks won $11 million, holding 6.2 percent of wagers.
“When the game is in California, Nevada’s sportsbooks do well,” McCormick said.
Analysts are projecting between $1.5 billion and $1.7 billion will be wagered legally on Sunday’s game.
“The Super Bowl is the U.S. sports betting industry’s single-largest betting event every year, alone accounting for nearly 1 percent of the industry’s total annual handle, according to our estimates,” Chris Krafcik of Eilers & Krejcik Gaming wrote in a research note.
One gaming company is feeling confident about the game being in New Orleans. Caesars Entertainment spent $435 million to renovate its Caesars New Orleans near the French Quarter, including the addition of a 5,700-square-foot sportsbook. Through a multi-year naming rights deal, the company placed the Caesars name on the New Orleans Superdome, where the game will be played for the 11th time.
Kenneth Fuchs, Caesars’ senior vice president and chief product officer for digital gaming, said Las Vegas gave the company marketing ideas.
“We’ve been a part of the New Orleans community for a long time, so this is a celebration week,” he said. “Every shot of the beautiful New Orleans skyline will be a spotlight on the Caesars Superdome.”
New control board member appeared in front of the panel as a law school student
Chandeni Sendall will attend her first Gaming Control Board meeting next week as a member of the three-person regulatory panel. But as a UNLV Boyd School of Law student nearly 14 years ago, she helped persuade gaming regulators to support a proposed legislative change.
Sendall, who was appointed to the control board last week by Gov. Joe Lombardo, was one of several students who convinced regulators to back AB213 in the 2011 legislative session. The measure, which shortened the process of determining gaming license suitability, passed unanimously in both houses and was signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval.
“It was a good experience,” said Sendall, who was in her final year at Boyd and was also working as an in-house legal intern at Caesars Entertainment.
Sendall, who spent the past 10 years as a deputy city attorney in Reno, said she hadn’t considered seeking an appointment to the Nevada Gaming Control Board until a friend said her name was submitted to the governor’s office.
Her background as an internal auditor with Caesars Entertainment before attending law school and her time in the Reno city attorney’s office caught the attention of the governor’s staff. Sendall rose to the top of the list as a replacement for Brittnie Watkins, one of Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak’s appointees whose term expired last month.
“I talked to some of my mentors who thought it would be a great opportunity,” said Sendall, who then spoke with Lombardo in early January and accepted the four-year appointment. She attended her first Nevada Gaming Commission meeting as a control board member last week.
Sendall has bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from UNR and clerked for Nevada Supreme Court Justice James Hardesty after graduating in 2012 from Boyd, where she also served as editor-in-chief of the UNLV Gaming Law Journal.
She worked for two statewide law firms in their Reno offices — McDonald Carano and Lionel, Sawyer & Collins — before joining the city.
“I learned a lot in these 10 years about labor law, constitutional law and civil litigation,” she said. “Watching our city council, which is subject to the open meeting law and public record laws, will help in my role with the control board. I'm excited to get an opportunity to use my gaming background.”
Lombardo has now appointed all three control board members, including Chairman Kirk Hendrick and former Las Vegas Judge George Assad. All three are attorneys.
Traditionally, the panel is supposed to include someone from the legal profession, a law enforcement representative and a person with a financial background, such as a certified public accountant.
“With her unique background in law and compliance, Chandeni will bring fresh insight and critical perspective to the board,” Lombardo said in a statement.
Last month, Hendrick announced he would step down from the board following the legislative session after more than two years in his four-year appointment. Sources said Hendrick told the governor when he was appointed that he would serve two years. Lombardo could elevate either Sendall or Assad to the chair role or have a new appointee join the board as chair.
What I'm reading
🥊 Penn Entertainment holder HG Vora starts proxy fight — Joshua Fineman, Seeking Alpha
The investment firm is nominating three candidates for Penn’s board. The company operates M Resort in Henderson and two casinos in Jackpot, Nevada.
💸 Nicole Bowyer says she was a pawn; Nevada regulator unmoved — Jess Marquez, IGB
The Nevada Gaming Commission delayed a proposed settlement on the complaint against former Resorts World Las Vegas casino host Nicole Bowyer — who profited from her husband’s illegal bookmaking — because it believed the punishment was insufficient.
⚾ Why the Chronicle is calling the A’s what they are: Sacramento’s MLB team — John Shea, San Francisco Chronicle
The Bay Area’s largest newspaper will not follow the A’s guidelines and will use Sacramento Athletics or Sacramento A’s online and in print.
News, notes and quotes
🗣️ Caesars’ John Maddox to lead Resort Association’s board
Caesars Entertainment Senior Vice President John Maddox was elected chairman of the Nevada Resort Association’s board of directors. Maddox, who oversees government relations for the casino operator, will lead the trade organization’s lobbying efforts. The Resort Association represents 75 casinos across the state. Red Rock Resorts Senior Vice President of Public Policy Michael Britt was elected vice chairman and Boyd Gaming Senior Vice President Paul Anderson was re-elected as treasurer. Resorts Association President Virginia Valentine was re-elected as board secretary. Mesquite Gaming recently joined the organization.
📱 PlayStudios appoints Robert Oseland a COO
Social gaming developer PlayStudios named Robert Oseland as chief operating officer for the Summerlin-based company that provides free-play casino games. Oseland joined the company in 2019 as the general manager of its global loyalty and marketing platform. He has overseen PlayStudios' game development and studio operations. Oseland previously held executive roles with Paragon Gaming and Wynn Resorts.