It’s no longer a secret how widely accepted betting on the NFL is. Every year, sportsbooks, gamblers, and the states that profit from the tax revenue generated by their wagering industry eagerly await September and the beginning of the NFL season.
According to the American Gaming Association, 73.5 million Americans will bet on the NFL this season. The NFL typically contributes 60% of the annual revenue received by online sportsbooks.
In advance of and during Week 1 of the NFL season, GeoComply, “the global leader in geolocation and compliance technology,” released their count of geolocation transactions. NFL Week 1 typically provides regulators and supporters of the legal sports betting industry with a good idea of what to expect throughout the year.
The staggering results of the GeoComply study, which covered 24 states plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, demonstrate once more that the NFL season is the most crucial time of the year for the best sportsbooks.
The figures provided by GeoComply
The growing legal sports betting market in the United States is tracked by GeoComply, which has compiled geolocation transaction data for the week of September 3–10. The business was able to analyze total transactions over that time as well as brand-new accounts that were opened at the top sports betting apps during that one-week span.
The seven-day period, which fell during Week 1 of the NFL season, saw an astounding 242.3 million geolocation transactions reported, according to the records. In comparison to Week 1 of the previous NFL season, there has been an increase of 56%.
During the first week of the NFL season, GeoComply was also able to locate a large number of new accounts. The statistics show that during the week, 1.1 million new accounts were created, which is 40% more than during Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season.
Deeper dive
Statistics from GeoComply confirmed how commonplace mobile sports betting is in the United States. According to the company, mobile devices accounted for 97% of wagering transactions at betting sites between September 3 and 10. On an iOS device, 75% of those transactions were completed.
It’s interesting to note that according to GeoComply statistics, the number of bets increased significantly and quickly during the first quarter of Thursday Night’s NFL season opener. Transactions increased to 4,200 per second during the first quarter of the Lions/Chiefs game, demonstrating how interested fans were in not only that game but also the entire Week 1 NFL schedule.
focus on new markets
In their report of sports betting transactions during Week 1 of the NFL season, GeoComply was able to distinguish between different states. They concentrated on the more recent legal sports betting states.
133,000 new legal sports betting accounts were opened in Ohio during the week of September 3–10, despite the state having launched its sports betting platform in January, missing the majority of the NFL season in 2016. During Week 1 of the NFL season, Ohio saw a staggering 19.4 million geolocation transactions.
59,000 new accounts were opened in Massachusetts sports betting, which launched its platform in March. In Week 1, Bay State gamblers had their first chance to legally wager on an NFL game. They answered with 9.2 million geolocation transactions, according to reports.
Additional 61,000 new sports betting accounts were opened as a result of Maryland’s legalized sports betting in November. In the state, 12.7 million transactions were recorded during the first week of the NFL season.
Missing out are other states
GeoComply was able to follow the desired legal transactions that hopeful gamblers attempted but were unable to complete from states where there isn’t currently a platform for legal sports betting. Numerous people attempted to legally bet from their homes with a regulated market in another state but were unsuccessful due to geofencing technology.
During Week 1 of the NFL season, there were 1 million geolocation checks from just Missouri, Mississippi, Georgia, Minnesota, Alabama, and South Carolina. They came from the countries where there is currently no mobile sports betting market.
The lost tax revenue from those unsuccessful wagering attempts? $305,5 million. GeoComply’s data is a call to action for lawmakers in these states to take action in 2024, according to the study, which best summarized the situation. The most direct route to putting the state in the best possible position to protect consumers, establish accountability, and increase revenues is legalization.
The statistics support the idea that all states should permit legal sports betting in some capacity. Furthermore, it is difficult to contest their NFL Week 1 findings.
