GeoComply Data Indicates Level Of Demand For Online Sports Betting In 7 States
A recent study from GeoComply has collected data from seven states where online sports betting remains illegal to explore how many people in those states are attempting to access legal online sportsbooks.
GeoComply used data from the most recent NFL season, from Sept. 5, 2024, to Jan. 5, 2025. It recorded the number of geolocation checks from people trying to access legal sportsbooks from outside state lines and the number of active accounts attempting to place wagers.
The data came from seven states:
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- South Carolina
- Texas
Two of those states — Nebraska and Mississippi — allow retail sports betting but not online sports betting. The other five prohibit sports betting, though they may introduce or consider introducing legislation in their 2025 legislative sessions.
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Online sports betting attempts
The GeoComply report showed millions of season-long location checks for every state. Five states had more than 100,000 active accounts attempting to log in throughout the season, and the percentage of registered accounts increased significantly compared to a year ago in all seven states.
State Geolocation Checks Active Accounts YoY % Increase of Active Accounts
South Carolina 7,733,865 365,808 436.67%
Alabama 2,896,911 171,520 159.91%
Georgia 3,670,706 297,239 101.37%
Mississippi 9,984,309 212,363 77.48%
Nebraska 3,372,227 75,599 61.56%
Minnesota 1,278,956 86,166 59.80%
Texas 4,505,868 338,458 55.55%
The numbers help indicate the level of demand for online sports betting in states where it remains unavailable, whether with or without a retail framework. In states where both retail and online sports betting are available, online sportsbooks often account for well above 90% of the action.
Mississippi, for instance, registered nearly 10 million geolocation checks despite retail sports betting being available in the state.
As for the growing number of active accounts, South Carolina’s 436% increase took place following the launch of North Carolina sports betting in March 2024. Georgia, which also borders North Carolina, doubled its active accounts,
GeoComply added that legal markets have significantly increased activity during the first two rounds of the NFL playoffs. That trend will likely continue through the Super Bowl.
Neighboring states influence sports betting legislation
Although retail sports betting is available in Nebraska, its lack of online offerings prompted Omahans to wager in Iowa in such volume that the first exit across the state line was dubbed “The Busiest Cornfield in Iowa.”
Such travel has influenced legalization efforts in the past. New York, the far-and-away largest US sports betting market, watched its residents go to New Jersey and Pennsylvania for over two years before its sportsbook apps went live in January 2022. A much smaller market, Kentucky, passed legislation after six of its seven bordering states had done the same.
Ohio was another example. It launched legal sports betting on Jan. 1, 2023, and reported more than $1 billion in wagers in its first month. Neighboring Indiana, meanwhile, reported a 2.9% drop in handle in 2023.
South Carolina’s 7.7 million geolocation checks and sharp year-over-year increase in active accounts present the newest glaring case of lost potential tax revenue to a neighbor. State Rep. Chris Murphy has filed a sports betting bill for the 2025 legislative session.
Sports betting options in illegal states
As we enter 2025, only 11 states have yet to pass sports betting legislation. Online sports betting is available in 30 states. With most states allowing sports wagering, bettors in sidelined states must travel to legal states to wager at regulated sportsbooks.
However, unregulated black-market sportsbooks continue to thrive and put customers at risk. Legal, regulated sportsbooks must comply with regulatory guidelines that seek to ensure all transactions and personal information are safe and secure. Black-market sportsbooks are under no such restriction.
By prohibiting sports betting, states potentially leave their residents vulnerable to the risks of betting at illicit offshore sportsbooks. They also lose out on potential tax revenue that instead fattens the bank accounts of offshore ventures.
How long will states hold out?
Nearly seven years have passed since the US Supreme Court repealed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which allowed individual states to legalize sports betting starting in May 2018.
Since then, many markets have matured and generated tens and hundreds of millions in annual tax revenue. New York reported more than $1 billion in 2024, a result of its market size and 51% tax rate.
Since 2018, states have collected more than $7.1 billion in tax revenue from legal sports betting. Of the seven states in the report, GeoComply estimated the following annual tax revenue by their third year of legal sports betting:
- Texas: $302.4 million
- Georgia: $112.9 million
- South Carolina: $60.1 million
- Minnesota: $59.6 million
- Alabama: $53.3 million
- Mississippi: $30.3 million
- Nebraska: $19.9 million