Super Bowl 55 Betting Expected to Dip 37% Due to Pandemic, Per Survey

Americans are expected to bet $4.3 billion on Sunday's Super Bowl, a significant drop from last year.

According to the American Gaming Association, an estimated 26 million Americans combined to bet $6.8 billion last year, per David Purdum of ESPN. That number is down 37 percent this year as 23.2 million people are projected to place bets.

As Purdum noted, the COVID-19 pandemic will reduce bets at retail sportsbooks as well as casual bets such as office pools.

On the other hand, legal betting will increase after six states and Washington, D.C., sanctioned sports betting over the past year, bringing the total of jurisdictions that allow legal betting to 21.

"This year's Super Bowl is expected to generate the largest, single-event legal handle in American sports betting history," Bill Miller, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association, said in a statement. "With a robust legal market, Americans are abandoning illegal bookies and taking their action into the regulated marketplace in record numbers."

Regardless of the methodology, a lot of money will be on the line as the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.