Super Bowl Week Spurs Focus on Taxes, Finance Ed

As Super Bowl LX approaches, federal and state tax treatment of sports wagers is coming into sharper focus for millions of fans placing bets on the game. Winnings from Super Bowl bets are taxable as ordinary income at the federal level, with applicable rates ranging from 10% to 37% depending on the taxpayer’s bracket.

The Internal Revenue Service considers gambling income taxable whether bets are placed casually with friends and family or through regulated sportsbooks. However, winnings earned on licensed sports betting platforms are more visible to tax authorities because operators are required to report larger payouts.

Online sportsbooks and casinos such as DraftKings or Bet365 must issue Form W‑2G, Certain Gambling Winnings, when a customer’s prize exceeds $600. If a bettor wins more than $5,000, the platform may withhold up to 24% of the payout for federal taxes at the time of payment.

Sports betting is now legal in some form in 40 U.S. states, with 30 states and the District of Columbia allowing online wagering. In states that levy an income tax, gambling winnings are generally taxed as ordinary income at state and, in some cases, local rates.

Rules vary by jurisdiction. For example, nine states – Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont – do not permit itemized deductions for gambling losses. In those states, winnings may be fully taxable even when bettors have offsetting losses.

At the federal level, recreational bettors can deduct gambling losses, but only if they itemize deductions instead of taking the standard deduction. For 2025, the standard deduction is $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly, rising to $16,100 and $32,200, respectively, in 2026.

A recent law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed on July 4, 2025, changes how gambling losses can be used beginning with 2026 tax returns. For 2025 and earlier years, taxpayers could deduct gambling losses up to the amount of their winnings, fully offsetting gambling income as long as they itemized deductions.

Starting with the 2026 tax year, only 90% of gambling losses can be deducted against winnings. For example, a bettor who wins $1,000 on Super Bowl LX and then loses $1,000 on a later wager would be able to deduct only $900 of losses, leaving $100 in taxable gambling income for 2026, even though net cash winnings for the year were zero.

Gambling winnings for non‑professional bettors are reported as “Other income” on Form 1040 or 1040‑SR, using Schedule 1. Itemized loss deductions are claimed under “Other itemized deductions” on Schedule A. Professional gamblers instead report activity on Schedule C and may also owe self‑employment taxes.

Alongside heightened interest in betting and taxes, Super Bowl week is being used as a platform to promote financial education among younger audiences. Intuit Inc., the financial technology company behind TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp, has partnered with the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative and the San Francisco 49ers Foundation to host a Financial Literacy Forum for Bay Area high school students.

At the forum, students will participate in interactive activities covering topics such as running a business, building credit, understanding how taxes work, and creating marketing campaigns. Intuit Chief Commercial Officer Greg Johnson is scheduled to moderate a conversation with San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey about his personal financial experiences and the parallels between disciplined financial habits and high‑level athletic performance.

NFL Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility Anna Isaacson said aligning the effort with Super Bowl week allows the league to use its largest platform to address barriers to economic mobility. The 49ers Foundation’s leadership described the initiative as an extension of its long‑standing work to educate and empower youth in the Bay Area using football as a catalyst.

In conjunction with the forum, Intuit is launching its annual Hour of Finance Challenge, which encourages educators nationwide to spend at least one hour teaching financial literacy in their classrooms between February 23 and April 15. Participating schools can access free, plug‑and‑play resources designed to cover core personal finance concepts in 60 minutes or less.

For 2026, Intuit is partnering with Next Gen Personal Finance to expand activity options, including classroom games on credit building and budgeting. Educators who complete the challenge can earn recognition and awards such as certificates, badges and cash for school supplies, with the initiative supporting Intuit’s goal of helping 50 million students become financially literate, capable and confident by 2030.

Both the forum and the challenge draw on Intuit for Education, a free program providing more than 200 hours of interactive curriculum for middle and high school students. The program incorporates simulations powered by TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks and Mailchimp, and offers professional development resources for teachers through webinars, conferences and on‑demand training.