NEVADA CASINOS LOST $2.6 MILLION

(THOUGHT YOU MIGHT ENJOY THESE TWO STORIES ABOUT THE SUPER BOWL. IN OUR LINE OF WORK IT'S ALWAYS FUN TO HEAR ABOUT THE CASINOS LOSING FOR A CHANGE. BELIEVE ME $2.6 IS JUST A DROP IN THE BUCKET. MARY'S SHARE OF THE $2.6 WAS $42.50 BACK ON A $10 BET.)


LOS ANGELES, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The New York Giants' upset of the New England Patriots in this year's Super Bowl surprised Las Vegas, too.

Nevada casinos lost nearly $2.6 million to Super Bowl gamblers this year, the state's Gaming Control Board said on Tuesday.

The only other time the casinos lost money on the National Football League's championship game since record-keeping began in 1992 was in 1995, when they paid out a net of around $400,000, control board senior research analyst Frank Streshley said. The Super Bowl started in 1967.

The 174 sports books at Nevada's casinos took in $92.1 million in wagers on this year's Feb. 3 contest, in which the Giants beat the Patriots 17-14.

Streshley said many bettors took a "moneyline" bet this year -- opting to put money on a simple wager that the underdog Giants would prevail, rather than more complicated point-spread bets.

"The books took a pretty big hit on that," he said.

The Patriots, unbeaten this season until Sunday, were favored to win the Super Bowl by 12 points by most oddsmakers in Las Vegas.

Last year, the casinos posted $12.9 million in winnings from bets totaling $93.1 million.





Giants and Patriots draw record Super Bowl audience
By Paul Thomasch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A record number of Americans watched Sunday's Super Bowl on Fox between the New York Giants and New England Patriots, helping justify the millions of dollars advertisers spent on commercials during the game.

Data from Nielsen Media Research on Monday showed 97.5 million U.S. viewers saw the closely fought National Football League game, making it the most watched Super Bowl in history and leaving it behind only the series finale of "M*A*S*H" in 1983 for viewership.

Even before kick-off, experts forecast blockbuster ratings for a Super Bowl that matched two teams from big media markets with one of the teams, New England, entering the game undefeated.

The game itself assured the sky-high ratings, as the Giants won 17-14 on a touchdown in the final seconds to produce one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history.

"Fox could not have asked for a better game," said Brad Adgate, director of research at Horizon Media. "You don't need writers for that sort of drama."

Sunday's audience increased nearly 5 percent from a year ago when CBS broadcast the Super Bowl. Previously, the 1996 Super Bowl between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers attracted the most viewers at 94.08 million.

For advertisers who paid an average of $2.7 million for a 30-second spot, up from $2.6 million a year ago, the hefty ratings came at the right time.