There is no doubt that the Super Bowl is among the largest sports events around the world, and this year’s edition has gathered quite the momentum in Canada. British Columbia Lottery Corporation predicts that its PlayNow betting platform will see a record-setting wagering volume. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs triumphed over the San Francisco 49ers.
BCLC is the sole legal provider of gambling and lottery entertainment in the Western province, while PlayNow is the only regulated online gaming and sports betting website in the jurisdiction. The platform comes with numerous protections to ensure a safe playing experience for locals, and 100% of its profits are reinvested into community groups, education, and healthcare.
Early Numbers Are Already an Improvement
Matt Lee, a representative of BCLC said ahead of the final, that Taylor Swift’s involvement in the event is unprecedented. He shared that wagers for the event were way up, and accredited to the rising popularity of sports betting. As of Saturday, PlayNow already had a 70% increase in bets on the Super Bowl over last year, with the Crown predicting CA$2 million will be made overall
Early estimations show that wagering activity for this year’s final is on track to surpass last year’s all-time high for the event of CA$1.8 million. During the game, fans in B.C. were also able place bets on various prop bets, such as how long the national anthem will last and the result of the opening coin toss. Additionally, there were numerous Taylor Swift-related novelty bets.
Mr. Lee further shared that some of the most popular prop bets were if Travis Kelce would propose to Taylor Swift on the field after the game, as well as how many times the camera would pan to the popular singer. Meanwhile, around 80% of the bettors on the gambling platform were in favour of the Kansas City Chiefs, which emerged victorious in the final.
But that is not all as pubs and restaurants in Metro Vancouver also expected a busy weekend. Pete Mahony, owner of Mahony’s Tavern False Creek shared that he expected four to five times the sales than on a regular Sunday. For the occasion, the venue prepared a few giveaways, including an all-expenses-paid trip to watch a game of the NFL next season.
B.C. Lottery Players Cash Out Big in 2023
In December 2023, BCLC issued its annual report recapping on how much in lottery prizes it had awarded to players for the year. Last year, it paid out more than CA$859 million in lottery prizes from more than 101 million winning tickets sold at both retail locations and on PlayNow. One of the most notable wins went to Scott Gurney who took home a CA$55-million jackpot in Lotto Max.
Just recently, the Crown agency revealed that it has been awarded a Level 4 certification from the World Lottery Association. It is the highest possible level granted by the WLA’s Independent Assessment Panel for tremendous effort in player health programming. This was the fifth time in a row that it has obtained the certification for its player protection programs.
Source: Charach, Kevin “B.C. sports betting site on pace for record-setting Super Bowl” CTV News Vancouver, February 10, 2024
