ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – A record 31.5 million Americans plan to bet on this year’s Super Bowl, according to estimates released Tuesday by the National Gaming Industry Trade Group.

The American Gaming Association has predicted that more than $7.6 billion will be wagered on Sunday’s pro football championship game.

The number of people planning to bet (up 35% from last year) and the estimated amount of money bet (up 78% from last year) are new records.

Bettors include people who make occasional bets with friends or relatives, entries into office pools, bets with licensed sportsbooks, and bets placed with illegal bookmakers.

“Americans have never been more interested in legal sports betting,” said Bill Miller, group president and chief executive. “The growth of legal options across the country not only protects fans and the integrity of gaming and betting, but also warns illegal operators that their time is limited.”

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When the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals begin play Sunday night at Rams Stadium, 30 states plus Washington DC will offer legal gambling.

Since last year’s game, an additional 45 million people will be able to bet on the Super Bowl as their states have legalized sports betting in the past year: Arizona, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, Dakota North, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The association predicted that:

– 18.2 million American adults will place traditional sports bets online, at a bookmaker or with a bookmaker, up 78% from 2021.

— 18.5 million plan to bet with friends or in a pool or squares competition, up 23%. The association said there was some overlap between these two groups.

— 76% say it is important for them to bet through a legal operator, up 11% from last year.

– 55% plan to bet on the Rams, with 45% backing the Bengals. This contradicts data from many individual legal sportsbooks that show more bets and total money have been wagered on Cincinnati so far.

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FanDuel, the official odds provider for The Associated Press, claims that 59% of spread bets are on Cincinnati to cover the 4-point spread as an underdog. Among moneyline bets that do not involve a point spread, 76% of bets predict the Bengals will win the game. Other sportsbooks are reporting similar outages on bets received so far.

The Super Bowl is also one of the most perilous times of the year for people with a gambling problem.

Harry Levant, a Philadelphia public health advocate and recovering drug addict, is an official with the Stop Predatory Gambling group. He said the continued wave of sports betting advertisements and the many inducements to get people to bet are reminiscent of the tobacco industry’s efforts to get people to smoke and continue to smoke.

He said legal sports betting was aggravating a public health crisis in America involving problem gambling.

“One in two people with a gambling problem will consider suicide, and one in five will attempt suicide,” he said. “I’m one of those in five.”

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Levant said the rapid increase in in-play betting fuels a compulsive gambler’s desire for more and faster betting opportunities.

“The game is no longer limited to who is going to win the game,” he said. “Now the game is about every play. Keep playing, keep chasing the action.

There is a national help line for people with a gambling problem or who think they may have one: 1-800-GAMBLER.

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Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at @WayneParryAC