Ohio Sports Betting Tops New York To Start 2023, According To GeoComply Numbers

As industry experts expected, sports betting in Ohio is already showing early signs of mass success. But what many did not expect is for the Buckeye State to pass New York in transactions in the opening weekend of 2023.

Ohio Sports Betting, By The Numbers

According to GeoComply, the newly-launched Ohio sports betting market saw over 11.3 million geolocation transactions from Jan. 1 at midnight (launch time) to Jan. 2 at 11:59 p.m.

“As expected, residents of the Buckeye State enthusiastically greeted the market at the moment the calendar changed over to 2023,” GeoComply SVP of Compliance Lindsay Slader, said.

Based on GeoComply’s data, betting activity in this 48-hour period amounted to 16 operators and 783,864 unique accounts made. Of the 11.3 geolocation transactions recorded by GeoComply, over 230,000 were made in the first hour of 2023.

Within Ohio, Cincinnati led the way with GeoComply reporting 1.9 million transactions in the city. The population-leading city of Columbus followed behind Cincinnati with 1.03 million and Cleveland (772,000) and Toledo (619,000) rounded out the top four cities.

These opening numbers alone bode well for Ohio’s future as public education, war veterans, and problem gambling programs are set to be the main beneficiaries of Ohio sports betting. Operators are taxed at a 10% rate to contribute to these programs.

“The launch of regulated online sports betting in Ohio will better protect its citizens, with an increased commitment to responsible gambling and new funding for critical state programs,” Slader added.

New York Is No. 2

Looking at the rest of the 2023 opening weekend numbers, New York – despite having roughly 8 million for people in the state – follows Ohio with 9.3 million geolocation transactions. These two are followed by Pennsylvania (8.2 million), New Jersey (6.7 million), and Michigan (5.8 million).

While Ohio would have a long way to go to catch up with New York’s growth, the opening numbers suggest it is not impossible.

As always, these numbers aren’t necessarily exact. In their press release GeoComply notes that this data “does not purport to be definitive or represent the entire market in Ohio or any other jurisdictions but is intended to provide general insights into relevant market dynamics.”

Ohio Scores Perfect Timing

In addition to the launch falling on a holiday that is centered around celebrating new beginnings, there were several other factors that helped start Ohio off on the right foot.

The year started off with 14 NFL games to bet on on day one of sports betting in Ohio, one of which included a Cleveland Browns win. An additional 14 NBA games were readily available to bet on over the 48-hour period. The last four college bowl games also provided a boost as the ReliaQuest Bowl, Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Cheez-it Citrus Bowl, and the Rose Bowl all kicked off on Jan. 2.

As we descend into the back half of the NFL season and into the middle of the NBA season, there is no doubt that we will continue to see success in the Ohio market. Ohioans’ very own Cincinnati Bengals are projected to make a deep run in the playoffs which surely will produce a lot of betting opportunities for them. Also – the Cleveland Cavaliers are coming off a historic game that saw Donovan Mitchell score 71 points – a Cavaliers record, and the most points scored in a game since Kobe Bryant’s historic 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors in 2006.