The piece explores why the Super Bowl functions less as a one-day revenue spike and more as the single biggest customer‑recruitment opportunity of the year for sportsbooks, according to former DraftKings manager and current Kogod professor Matthew Bakowicz. It explains how prop bets, live betting, and post‑game marketing turn casual, event‑driven participants into long‑term customers in an industry built on high volume, low margins, and constant engagement.

Key takeaways:

• Sportsbooks view the Super Bowl primarily as a recruiting event, prioritizing long‑term customer retention and lifetime ROI over record one‑day handle or win/loss results

• Thousands of prop bets and micro‑markets are designed to onboard casual fans, keep them engaged throughout the game, and funnel them into ongoing betting via follow‑up offers and marketing

• The sports betting model is still evolving post‑2018 legalization, with prediction markets, intense marketing spend, and shifting regulations reshaping how operators compete for a small share of high‑value customers.

“The Super Bowl is the biggest recruiting day for sportsbooks,” Bakowicz said.

​Read the article.