Legal betting on the opening weekend of this year’s NFL (National Football League) has seen an increase of more than 70% compared to 2021, according to geolocation data.
When a customer places a bet, it’s important to verify their physical location – a service that companies like GeoComply provide.
According to the company, 103.1 million geolocation checks were performed in the last weekend following the start of the NFL on September 8.
This represents a considerable increase when compared to last year’s 60.1 million checks. New York alone, whose betting market was launched in January, was responsible for 15.7 million checks.
That’s not a surprise, but neighboring Pennsylvania wasn’t far behind. The state of Keystone saw geolocation checks increase by 30% to 15.3 million from 11.8 million.
Meanwhile, Illinois took third place with eight million checks, while New Jersey and Michigan came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Anna Sainsbury, CEO of GeoComply, called the weekend an “unbelievable start” to this year’s NFL season. She commented: “The growth of legal betting suggests that Americans are moving away from offshore sports betting to regulated options in their home states.
“This is exactly the result that lawmakers and regulators sought to achieve through legalization as they now protect consumers and increase tax revenues.”
Since the opening day of the NFL last year, five states have launched online sports betting: Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, Louisiana and New York.
As a result, there are 25 states in addition to Washington DC that currently host live regulated online sports betting markets.
Sainsbury added, “GeoComply worked closely with our customers throughout the offseason to ensure a smooth and most importantly safe start to the NFL season.”
