GeoComply Reports 100 Million+ Super Bowl LVII Bets

GeoComply, a company that verifies a gambler’s location prior to betting, recorded over 100 million geolocation checks across the 23 states where online sports betting is legal, plus Washington D.C. They registered over 7.4 million accounts over the weekend – a 32 percent increase from last year.

First Super Bowl With In-State Sports Betting

This year’s Super Bowl presented a unique circumstance, as it was the first Super Bowl that took place in a state where sports betting is legal. Arizona sports fans took advantage of this as GeoComply reports that over 100,000 geolocation checks were conducted in and around State Farm Stadium from over 8,000 sportsbook accounts. In Arizona in general, GeoComply reported over 6.1 million transactions across 387,170 accounts during the weekend.

“Super Bowl LVII was a record-breaking event. GeoComply data reveals that Americans’ interest in legally betting on the Super Bowl has never been higher,” GeoComply Co-Founder & CEO Anna Sainsbury said. “It also showed that many fans at State Farm Stadium embraced their newfound ability to bet while watching the game in person.”

New York, Ohio Lead The Weekend

Unsurprisingly, New York led the way over the weekend, having recorded over 13.9 million geolocation checks by GeoComply. The recently launched Ohio market was a close second with 12.6 million checks. This was followed by 11.8 million geolocation checks in Pennsylvania, a 15% increase from last year’s number in that state, presumably because the home team – the Philadelphia Eagles – were playing in the game. The top five states round out with 9.1 million in New Jersey, and 7.5 million in Michigan.

While New York may have posted the most bets, more Ohioans actually wagered. GeoComply reported 1.1 million unique accounts placed bets in Ohio compared to approximately 851,000 in New York. Pennsylvania (793K), New Jersey (660K), and Michigan (575K), again, round out the top five in number of unique accounts.

Missouri, which is the state that’s home to Super Bowl LVII winner Kansas City Chiefs, does not have a legal sports betting market. However, Kansas, which launched sports betting last year, is just a 15-minute drive from Arrowhead Stadium. The state saw over 2.1 million transactions across 180,482 unique accounts.

How Did Operators Fare?

For the most part, operators reportedly responded well to the influx of bets this year. FanDuel told CNBC that at its peak it was accepting 50,000 bets per second and averaged 2 million active users on its platform throughout the game.

Meanwhile, BetMGM reported that it had produced its highest Super Bowl handle in Nevada in its history. Prior to Sunday, BetMGM also took the game’s first seven-figure wager, as a bettor wagered $1,000,000 on the Eagles moneyline (-125). With a Chiefs win, that money goes directly in BetMGM’s pocket.

Kambi Group, which powers several sportsbooks including BetRivers and Barstool, announced that this year’s Super Bowl produced the second-highest turnover of all time on a single event. Approximately 25% of pre-game money was placed with their Bet Builder technology (same game parlays).

William Hill was not as fortunate. Their mobile sports betting app in Nevada crashed before the game even started. Not only were users unable to place bets throughout the game, but users who had placed bets prior to the crash were unsure if/when they would receive their winnings.