GeoComply reported Monday that sports betting app geolocation checks on mobile devices increased 71.5% for this year’s NFL kickoff.
This year, there were 103.1 million geolocation pings during the opening weekend for NFL betting, as opposed to 60.1 million last year.
“Clearly an unbelievable start to the NFL season,” GeoComply CEO Anna Sainsbury said in a statement.
“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.”
Sports betting newcomer NY leads the way
GeoComply said the data was collected from Thursday-Sunday at midnight ET. The Empire State led the nation in checks on its first-ever legal betting opening weekend:
- New York: 15.7 million pings (15.3% market share)
- Pennsylvania: 15.3 million (14.8%)
- New Jersey: 13.5 million (13.1%)
- Michigan: 9.7 million (9.4%)
- Illinois: 8 million (7.8%)
PlayUSA projects year-over-year sports betting handle to be up 71% from 2021 to 2022 ($99 billion.) It is important to note that the GeoComply ping data and revenue data are not one and the same.
Giving context to GeoComply data
NY’s geolocation stats lend more credence to the state’s potential to reach $2 billion in monthly handle this NFL season (as per PlayUSA’s forecast) with October being likelier for that benchmark.
GeoComply earlier told LSR that it geolocated 2.96 million unique usernames for NY sportsbooks from Jan. 8 launch through Aug. 31. Sportsbooks across the country saw a dip in handle and revenue with the annual summer lull in the sports betting calendar.
“GeoComply has worked hand in glove with our customers over the offseason to ensure a seamless and, most importantly, safe start to the NFL season,” Sainsbury said. “Whether it’s confirming location, verifying identities or detecting and thwarting possible fraud, our technology solutions are leading the way to support the regulated online gaming environment.”
