GeoComply Reports 20.2% Yearly Increase In Active Sports Betting Accounts Leading Up To Super Bowl LIX
Super Bowl 59 is right around the corner, and GeoComply predicts it will be the biggest sports betting event in history. That prediction is based on cold, hard data, too.
According to GeoComply, sports betting accounts have grown by 20.2% during the 2024-25 NFL season, a result of new markets and continued growth in existing ones.
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Super Bowl projected to break sports betting records
Legal sports betting markets have broken records for money wagered all season. By all accounts, the Super Bowl is likely to set even more records.
The American Gaming Association predicts that Americans will wager a record $1.39 billion on the big game. Eric Ramsey, the data and policy analyst at LegalSportsReport.com, projects more than $1.5 billion in legal wagers.
These projections come on the heels of double-digit yearly handle growth in more than a handful of states, including Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia.
New York’s growth is especially impressive, as it reported more than $2 billion in monthly wagers from September through December. Its sportsbooks handled nearly $9 billion in those four months, up 12.7% from $7.96 billion in 2024.
Illinois and New Jersey also had billion-dollar handles every month during football season. Ohio eclipsed that mark in November for the first time since January 2023, its first month with legal wagering.
New York could overtake Nevada in Super Bowl handle
The nationwide growth has come at the expense of one state: Nevada. The longest-standing sports betting market in the US showed routine growth through 2022, even as established markets matured and new markets emerged.
Nevada had four straight months with a handle exceeding $1 billion between October 2022 and January 2023. Since then, it has experienced year-over-year handle declines each football season and has not exceeded $900 million since November 2023.
Despite the downturn, Nevada has remained the top Super Bowl betting market. It hosted last year’s Super Bowl, boosting its numbers, but that could change this year.
According to Ramsey’s projections, Nevada’s decline and New York’s growth could cause New York to overtake Nevada in total Super Bowl betting, with a projected $183 million in wagers. Ramsey’s model predicts five states will reach or surpass $100 million in legal wagers for the game:
- New York: $183 million
- Nevada: $170 million
- New Jersey: $147 million
- Illinois: $104 million
- Florida: $100 million
New markets contribute to records
Newer markets like Florida and North Carolina are also projected to add significant totals to Super Bowl betting. North Carolina bettors wagered nearly $2.5 billion from September through December, and Ramsey predicts another $59.2 million on Sunday’s game, the ninth most nationwide.
More states have added to Super Bowl betting totals every year since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA in 2018. Unsurprisingly, the increased access to betting has resulted in more wagers every year.
Nevada was the only state in which sports betting was legal in 2018, and it reported $158.6 million in Super Bowl wagers that year. The landscape has changed and grown tremendously since then:
- 2019: $206.7 million in handle (eight states)
- 2020: $290 million in handle (14 states)
- 2021: $515.2 million in handle (21 states plus the District of Columbia)
- 2022: $914.6 million in handle (31 states plus DC)
- 2023: $1.08 billion in handle (35 states plus DC)
- 2024: $1.34 billion in handle (38 states plus DC)
