Super Bowl betting frenzy sends sports betting stocks soaring
Sports betting stocks like DraftKings (DKNG), Flutter (FLUT), Penn Entertainment (PENN), and Caesars (CZR) are trending higher Friday ahead of Super Bowl Sunday. Americans are estimated to wager a record $23 billion on the big game this year. With the Super Bowl being hosted in Las Vegas, betting is especially in focus, with the Washington Post dubbing it "the ultimate Vegas wedding."
Yahoo Finance's Rachelle Akuffo and Akiko Fujita breaks down the details.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Angel Smith
Video Transcript
AKIKO FUJITA: Well, time now for today's trending tickers. We have our eyes on sports betting stocks all moving higher ahead of this big betting weekend with the Super Bowl on Sunday. We heard from FanDuel CEO Amy Howe earlier today about her expectations with the weekend. Take a listen.
AMY HOWE: There's no doubt we're going to set some records this year. Every Super Bowl is a record for us. We're heading into it with phenomenal momentum. We just came off the NFC Championship, which was the single biggest day we've ever had. In fact, I think at our peak, we had 60,000 bets per minute.
AKIKO FUJITA: So Rachelle, 68 million Americans expected to bet a record $23 billion. I mean, that's the number we're looking at. And we've been talking about companies like FanDuel and, of course, DraftKings, which we'll talk about later. But, you know, also the big players in Vegas, whether that's MGM or Caesars.
I mean, they stand to win in a big way as a result of Vegas hosting the Super Bowl. And again, worth noting that, you know, 10 years ago, maybe a little more than that, these leagues were saying, we don't want anything to do with Vegas. Now they've gone all in with so many states legalizing sports betting.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: It's true. The Washington Post called it the ultimate Vegas wedding when you have the Super Bowl and you have sports betting in Vegas. It makes absolute sense. And of course, ironically, you were talking about some of the states where sports betting is legal.
If you're in California, if you're a 49ers fan watching this or a Chiefs fan in Missouri trying to watch this, you actually can't bet in those states. It is still illegal in those states. I know California is that big one that a lot of these sports betting companies have been, you know, trying to get on the ballot here.
It hasn't gotten much momentum, especially in California, but clearly gearing up. And as you mentioned, it's not just sports betting. It's the entire hospitality ecosystem that really gets to benefit from this as well.
AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, and worth noting that in just a bit, we're going to be speaking with Jason Robins, DraftKings co-founder and CEO. It will be interesting to hear what numbers he is anticipating going into the big game come Sunday.
