Mobile sports betting activity increased by 22.3% in the United States over Super Bowl 58 weekend, according to GeoComply, which is contracted by jurisdictions to ensure bets are being placed where they are legal.
The figure marked an increase over the 2023 Super Bowl, with four more states having launched mobile sports betting markets since last February. Florida, the largest of the group, was not accounted for in this figure, however.
The GeoComply tabulations don’t correlate directly to a 22% increase in bets. They represent “geolocation checks” after mobile sportsbook account holders attempted to log in.
The data was culled from 30 US jurisdictions including Nevada, where Super Bowl 58 was held.
“The continued transition to the legal market set the stage for a historic first Super Bowl in Las Vegas, and the record-breaking results we saw did not disappoint,” GeoComply co-founder and CEO Anna Sainsbury said in a release.
With betting activity in NFL stadiums on mobile devices having increased throughout the 2023 NFL season, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas figures to have been awash with digital wagering on Sunday. GeoComply is expected to release data specific to Nevada in the near future.
GeoComply processed a then-record 100 million geolocation checks across 23 jurisdictions around Super Bowl 57 in Glendale, Arizona — up 25% from Super Bowl 56 — and more than 100,000 geolocation checks at the venue on game day. Arizona, the first state to host a Super Bowl after legalizing sports betting, has less cumbersome rules for registering or using accounts created in other states than Nevada, however.
GeoComply observations from midnight EST, Feb. 10 through the completion of Super Bowl 58:
- 8.5 million legal, mobile sports betting accounts were active across 30 US jurisdictions. This was a 15% increase from the Super Bowl in 2023.
- 1.77 million new users registered for accounts in the two weeks preceding the game.
- More than 13.7 million new sportsbook accounts were created from the start of the NFL season through the Super Bowl.
Going Back to Kansas City (The Other One)
Sports betting isn’t legal in Missouri, but it is just across the eponymous river splitting Kansas City.
The Chiefs and Royals play on the Missouri side, while Sporting KC and Kansas Speedway reside across the west bank. About four times as many residents live on the Missouri side.
GeoComply has logged attempted betting activity in the area since Kansas launched legal sports betting on Sept. 1, 2022. Kansas City and St. Louis are among the largest metropolitan areas in a state without a legal sports betting option that borders jurisdictions with one. Business was understandably brisk in the land of burnt ends on Sunday as the Chiefs defended the NFL title against the San Francisco 49ers.
GeoComply logged more than 431,000 geolocation checks located in Missouri accessing legal mobile sports in other states during the Super Bowl weekend, the company said on Wednesday. The company identified more than 40,500 mobile sportsbook betting accounts in Missouri, an increase of more than 30% from the previous Super Bow, which was also won by Kansas City.
- 48% of the geolocations were attempting to log into Kansas sportsbook apps
- 37% targeted sportsbooks in Illinois
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