With 50 million Americans projected to bet $16 billion on the Super Bowl across legal and extralegal channels, it’s no surprise that sportsbooks were very active on Sunday.

GeoComply, which verifies bettors’ locations on behalf of legal sportsbooks, registered 100 million sports-betting transactions this Super Bowl weekend — a 25% increase from last year.

Several American sportsbooks reported milestones as a result of the increased traffic.

• FanDuel averaged 2 million active users on its platform throughout the Kansas City Chiefs’ 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, and was taking a record 50,000 bets per second at its peak.
• DraftKings paid out $2.68 million to one bettor who wagered $1.68 million on the Chiefs’ moneyline.
• MGM Resorts says it had the highest Super Bowl betting handle in company history for the state of Nevada, including money wagered at its nine retail sportsbooks on the Las Vegas Strip and on its BetMGM app.

“This was BetMGM’s most successful Super Bowl and most-bet-on single game sporting event ever,” a company spokesperson said.

Next Year

The countdown to Super Bowl LVIII is already on — and given it’ll take place in the sports betting capital of the world, the handles are only bound to increase.

As for who could be taking home the Lombardi Trophy next year in Las Vegas, the books are already favoring a repeat: At DraftKings, the Chiefs opened as +600 favorites to win it all again — while the Eagles opened at +900, the fifth-best odds.

The Kansas City sports scene continues to flourish with the help of Patrick Mahomes and the Hunt family.

Following the Chiefs’ victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Super Bowl Sunday, the quarterback now has two Super Bowl rings, two Super Bowl MVPs, and two league MVPs — all in four years — but his success on the field doesn’t outshine his success off it.

After signing a contract extension in 2020 reportedly worth up to $503 million — that will keep him around K.C. until 2031 — Mahomes purchased stakes in three other professional sports teams in the area.

• In July 2020, he bought a stake in MLB’s Kansas City Royals.
• In July 2021, Mahomes purchased a stake in MLS club Sporting Kansas City.
• Last month, he joined his wife Brittany as an owner of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current.

It was reported in December that Mahomes, who has invested in Biosteel, Buzzer, Hyperice, and Whoop, also purchased a stake in a Major League Pickleball team. 

Mahomes was the NFL’s fourth-highest-paid player in 2022, according to Forbes.

Who Are the Hunts?

Lamar Hunt, a founder of the American Football League, established the Dallas Texans in 1960 and moved the team to Kansas City in 1963 to become the Chiefs. His son, Clark Hunt, is the current owner.

The Hunt family — which also owns stakes in the NBA’s Chicago Bulls and MLS club FC Dallas — is estimated to be worth $20.5 billion altogether.

As potential buyers for Manchester United continue to line up, a certain eccentric billionaire is reportedly kicking the tires on the historic European soccer club.

Elon Musk is “believed to be monitoring the situation closely” and weighing putting in a bid for the club ahead of Friday’s deadline, per The Daily Mail.

The British tabloid says that several interested parties have signed confidentiality agreements to see Man United’s “data room” — including several from Saudi Arabia, which could be eyeing Musk as a figurehead for a bid.

With a net worth of $187.5 billion, Musk certainly has the capital to make a purchase — and also has some personal motivation.

In August, Musk joked on Twitter that he was buying Manchester United — later deleting the Tweet, but clarifying that if he were to buy a team, it would be United, his “fav team as a kid.”

Club owners the Glazer family are reportedly seeking around $7.3 billion for a full takeover — but expressed interest in only a partial sale last week.

Not Just Elon

The competition to be the next owner of Manchester United is getting stiff.

Bloomberg recently confirmed that a consortium of Qatari investors are set to make an offer for the club with assistance from the Qatar Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the ruling emir of Qatar, reportedly supports the club.

British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is also still in the running.