For Super Bowl 56, sports bettors wagered in record numbers. GeoComply, a company that tracks betting activity, saw over 81.1 million geolocation transactions for this year’s game, about 2.3 times last year’s activity. GeoComply also recorded 5.6 million unique accounts accessed over Super Bowl weekend, a 95% increase from the previous year.
#SuperBowlLVI stat round up:
•More than 80.1 million geolocation transactions over the weekend. A 2.26x increase from Super Bowl weekend last year!
•Approximately 5.6 million unique accounts accessed legal online sportsbooks this weekend. A 95% increase from last year! pic.twitter.com/JivlCuh66o
— GeoComply (@GeoComply) February 14, 2022
These aren’t precise measurements of the number of bets placed or individual bettors. But it does show that sportsbooks saw record activity from bettors this year.
The American Gaming Association had forecast record handle for this year’s Super Bowl.
Sports Betting Changes Since Super Bowl 55
A lot has changed in the sports betting industry since Super Bowl 55. New York’s mobile sports betting market launched weeks before Super Bowl 56. Louisiana, a smaller but critical market, launched its sports betting industry ahead of the NFL’s conference championship games. Arizona and Connecticut are also new to legal sports betting since last year’s Super Bowl. So, the pool of bettors who are able to bet legally and can be tracked by GeoComply grew dramatically.
The NFL also expanded its partnerships within the sports betting industry since the last Super Bowl. It’s official relationships with major sportsbooks include:
NFL teams, like the Washington Commanders and New York Jets, also partnered with the American Gaming Association’s Have a Game Plan responsible gaming program. At the team and league levels, the NFL tightened its ties with the sports betting industry during 2021.
Looking Ahead To Super Bowl LVII
Looking ahead to the next Super Bowl, there’s a good chance Super Bowl 57 will shatter even more sports betting records. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed sports betting into law late last year, and Ohio’s sports betting launch will occur by January 1, 2023. Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Georgia have also seem movement towards sports betting legalization, too.
With an ever increasing population of bettors, the next Super Bowl should see even more sports betting activity than this one.