Colts Saints Super Bowl Betting Should Break Mark

Las Vegas oddsmakers believe that this year's Colts Saints Super Bowl betting should break last year's mark of $81.5 million wagered.

Super Bowl XL, which paired the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks, generated a record $94.5 million worth of sports wagers for Las Vegas but subsequent years have settled in just shy of that mark.

Last year's Super Bowl betting in Las Vegas was hit especially hard by the recession despite record traffic at the Gambling911.com website.

Wynn Las Vegas race and sports book director, John Avello, made the bold prediction that Colts Saints Super Bowl betting will surpass that of Super Bowl XL.

"I believe that the total handle for the state will be a nice number.  It could be the biggest number of all time."

Jay Kornegay, executive director of the Las Vegas Hilton sports book, told the Las Vegas Sun he did not believe the matchup between the Saints and Colts could generate the amount of money Avello suggests based on the idea that neither the Saints or Colts have the same type of fan base as say the Steelers.

"I don't think we're coming close to setting any record. Absolutely not," Kornegay said. "We are taking baby steps to get back to where we were. If the Chargers were facing the Vikings or even the Cowboys, maybe we could talk a little bit about setting records, but not with these two teams."

Kornegay said a five percent from last year is possible. 

Super Bowl Betting Totals

2009-$81.5 million

2008-$92 million

2007-$93 million

2006-$94.5 million

2005-$90.7 million

2004-$81.2 million

2003-$71.6 million

2002-$71.5 million

2001-$67.6 million

2000-$71 million