There’s a day late and a dollar short, but then there’s failing to capitalize on the most bet on sporting event in the United States.
Super Bowl 2020 bets are already being placed on the matchup featuring the San Fransisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, which has become one of the most-anticipated NFL football games in recent memory.
After both teams won their conference championships, oddsmakers opened the Chiefs as a 1.5-point favorite over the 49ers in Super Bowl 54. The total currently sits at over/under 54.5 points.
Earlier this week, the American Gaming Association released the results of a survey that revealed a record 26 million Americans will bet $6.8 billion on the Chiefs-49ers Super Bowl matchup.
And the home states for the two teams playing on Super Bowl Sunday won’t see a penny of the revenue or tax money generated from this year’s handle.
Despite having well over a year and a half since the US Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act on May 14, 2018, the inaction, ineptitude, and backward thinking from state lawmakers in California and Missouri means diehard 49ers and Chiefs fans will have to look elsewhere to wager on their home team.
Fortunately, there are several Super Bowl sportsbook alternatives legally available for people who live in states where a majority of legislators have prioritized taking money from anti-gambling lobbying groups over the will of the people.
A total of 14 states have legal sports betting ready in time for this year’s big game, but only nine states are taking the issue seriously by including online and mobile apps in their laws.
However, California and Missouri are now planning to legalize sports betting, and both legislatures have taken significant steps during the 2020 legislative session.
Missouri sports betting appears to have much better odds of passing this time around, and its current proposal—House Bill 2088—advanced out of committee earlier this week and now heads to the House floor for debate.
California sports betting, on the other hand, has many more hurdles to overcome until it can become law.
If the state legislature manages to pass a bill before the session ends, it will be placed on the 2020 general election ballot and likely go head-to-head against a measure from a coalition of tribal casino operators, who recently began collecting the required signatures.
With two sports betting proposals on the ballot, industry experts predict California voters wouldn’t pick either, meaning the state that would generate the most revenue from licensing and regulating sportsbooks would have to start the entire legalization process from scratch.
Regardless of how things play out in California and Missouri in 2020, there’s only one sure bet:
Both states won’t have sportsbooks to accept wagers from Chiefs and 49ers fans in time for Super Bowl 54.
