Super Bowl LVII will be the first NFL championship contested in a legal betting state — and with a sportsbook just outside State Farm Stadium.

Sunday’s contest between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will draw an enormous amount of money in wagers.

• Per an American Gaming Association survey, a record 50.4 million Americans (20%) plan to bet an estimated $16 billion total on the Big Game — a 61% and 110% increase from 2022, respectively.
• The AGA found that 30 million Americans plan to place a traditional wager online, at a retail sportsbook, or with a bookie, while 28 million plan to bet casually with friends or part of a pool or squares contest.
• For the first time, traditional bets are expected to surpass casual ones.

The growing availability of legal sports betting in states like Maryland, Ohio, and New York is encouraging casual bettors to take the plunge into the sportsbook world.

“I think that the Super Bowl is great training wheels for sports bettors,” Action Network CEO Patrick Keane told Front Office Sports.

Offers Galore

With so many novices trying their hand during what Keane calls the “betting holiday of the year,” sportsbooks are doing everything they can do to draw in new customers, pulling out wild profit boosts or free bets.

“This is really a big opportunity for the books to acquire users,” says Keane.

As for the game itself, bettors seem evenly split: Of those polled by AGA, 44% each are planning to wager on the Chiefs and Eagles.

The Phoenix Suns are officially changing hands, but the sale of the Minnesota Timberwolves may be in limbo.

The NBA board of governors approved Mat Ishbia’s purchase of the Suns. Ishbia agreed to purchase the team in December, following allegations of racism and misogyny against previous owner Robert Sarver.

• Ishbia is paying $2.28 billion for a 57% controlling stake in the team.
• The league’s owners voted 29-0 to approve the sale, with the Cleveland Cavaliers abstaining.
• Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has a rivalry with Ishbia stemming from their statuses as the owners of the two largest mortgage lenders in the U.S., Rocket Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage, respectively.

Suns CEO Jason Rowley, who was named in a damning report commissioned by the NBA outlining the culture under Sarver, has reportedly resigned.

Timberwolves Sale in Hibernation

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore were granted permission to delay a payment of $200 million to March 28, according to the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. The payment, originally due Dec. 31, will give the pair a 40% stake in the team. The two purchased a 20% stake in July 2021.

They will take a controlling stake on completion of a $400 million payment scheduled for later this year. The NBA board of governors has not yet approved the full sale.

Rodriguez was struggling to raise funds as of August, according to the New York Post, which claimed that he owned 7% of the team to Lore’s 13%.

Activision Blizzard can boast some company bests in its fourth-quarter report. 

The video game giant recorded $2.33 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, up from the $2.16 billion it generated during the same period last year — and reported record quarterly net bookings of $3.57 billion, a 43% year-over-year increase from $2.49 billion.

• Activision’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II” had the highest opening-quarter sell-through in franchise history. In the 10 days following its release, the game generated $1 billion in sales.
• Blizzard saw its highest quarterly net bookings ever, primarily attributed to growth for “Warcraft,” “Overwatch,” and “Diablo” — each delivered more than $100 million in net bookings.
• King’s “Candy Crush” was the top-grossing game franchise in U.S. app stores for the 22nd consecutive quarter.

Activision’s segment revenue and operating income increased around 60% year-over-year, while Blizzard’s increased roughly 90% year-over-year. Monthly active users for the company increased from 368 million to 389 million.

Activision Blizzard is set to be acquired by Microsoft for $69 billion, but the deal has faced scrutiny from regulators including a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission.

Sales Switch

Not all gaming companies had a good quarter.

Nintendo reported on Tuesday it sold around 8.23 million Switch consoles in its third quarter — a roughly 22% drop. It now expects to sell 18 million consoles in the fiscal year ending March 2023, compared to 19 million.

It also cut its net profit outlook to around $2.8 billion, a drop from its previous outlook of roughly $3 billion.