GeoComply, a location detection and fraud prevention company, has reported an “unbelievable start” to the NFL season, according to its geolocation volume data for sports betting. The numbers rocketed up by 71.5% for this NFL season’s opening weekend to a record 103.1 million, up from 60.1 million in 2021.
The addition of Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, Louisiana and New York since 2021’s opening day takes the number of live and regulated sports betting states to 25 (plus DC). New York shot straight to number one in GeoComply’s chart of states with the highest volumes of transactions, 3.7 million from the opening game alone.
New York, as many anticipated, reigns over sports betting for the NFL season, with a 15.3% market share for sports betting. Pennsylvania is also having a strong showing, with a 39.7% rise to 15.3 million, placing it in second place behind the Empire State
Illinois jumped 60% from 5 million in 2021 to 8 million this weekend after legislators allowed mobile registration instead of in-person registration at the state’s casinos and tracks. New Jersey and Michigan rounded out the top five performing states, with 13.1% and 9.4% of the market respectively.
GeoComply CEO Anna Sainsbury commented: “Our data indicates 71.5% growth from this same period last year, clearly an unbelievable start to the NFL season. The growth of legal betting suggests that Americans are ditching offshore sportsbooks for regulated options in their home states. This is exactly the outcome legislators and regulators looked to achieve through legalization as they now protect consumers and increase tax revenues.”
Data for the NFL opening weekend analysis was collected from Thursday, September 8th through midnight ET on Sunday, September 11th.
