-
Casinos for you
Super Bowl Weekend Betting Transactions Crush 100 Million Barrier
By Jeff Osienya Feb 19, 2023 IndustryGeoComply registered over 100 million sports wagering transactions for the Super Bowl 57 weekend and blocked significant fraudulent or illegal activity. Here’s a deeper dive into the numbers recorded during America’s most celebrated sporting tournament.The 57th edition of one of the most watched sporting events in the world, the Super Bowl, lived up to expectations. Now, if you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan, the wound may still be sore, but we promise not to bring up the on-field happenings of 13th February.
Instead, let’s focus on the wagering side of things, where GeoComply reports that this year’s version of the famed sporting event broke the 100 million ceiling for transactional volume. This marks an impressive 25% increase in transactions compared to the previous year’s volume of geolocation checks during the Super Bowl weekend. In addition to the geolocation checks, GeoComply also logged the registration of 7.4 million accounts in regulated sports wagering states, which was a 32% increase year over year. Anna Sainsbury, GeoComply’s Co-Founder and CEO, shared a few words in a press release saying:
Quote“Superbowl LVII was a record-breaking event. GeoComply data reveals that Americans’ interest in legally betting on the Super Bowl has never been higher. It also showed that many fans at State Farm Stadium embraced their newfound ability to bet while watching the game in person.”
The Empire State Leads the Pack – As Expected
Since New York launched online sports betting in January 2022, it has been leading every key statistic about wagering because of the ceaseless hunger of its wagering population. As such, it’s no surprise that the Empire State led in wagering activity during the Super Bowl, with 13.9 million geolocation transactions documented over the Super Bowl weekend. Additionally, New York recorded new registrations from a whopping 851,000 unique accounts during the said period.
Ohio came in second in transactional volume, raking 12.6 million geolocation checks over the Super Bowl weekend. Surprisingly, the Buckeye state had the highest number of new accounts created as 1.1 million unique players signed up for sports wagering membership.
Hot on the heels of Ohio was Pennsylvania, one of the earliest states to embrace legal sports betting and also home to the losing Philadelphia Eagles. According to GeoComply, 11.83 million geolocation transactions were recorded in the Keystone state, a 15.1% increase from last year’s figures. The state also saw 793,073 uniquely registered accounts from the Superbowl weekend, a 15.9 % jump from last year’s edition.
Following the top three best performers in geolocation transactions were New Jersey, Michigan, Arizona, and Kansas, home of the Super Bowl champions Kansas City Chiefs. The states saw 9.1 million, 7.5 million, 6.1 million, and 2.2 million geolocation transactions, respectively. Meanwhile, New Jersey and Michigan came in fourth and fifth when we look at states with the highest volume of newly registered accounts over the Superbowl weekend. They logged 650,000 and 575,000 unique account creations, respectively.
GeoComply Squashes 140K Fraud Attempts
Like other huge sporting events such as March Madness, and the NBA playoffs, the Super Bowl is often also marred with a sharp increase in fraudulent activity for unsuspecting online users. This usually includes account takeovers, ID thefts, and a range of other financial fraud doings. Good thing there are platforms like GeoComply that prevent such cases from occurring.
So, with most of the world fixated on the Super Bowl clash and the intense wagering activity around it, a good chunk of sports bettors was up to no good. As a result, GeoComply recorded more than 140,000 fraud attempts over the Super Bowl weekend. Fortunately, GeoComply immediately went into action, preventing the fraudsters from having a field day, so to speak. Commenting on the fraud cases, Sainsbury pointed out that:
Quote“It is no secret that online fraud is a growing concern across all forms of e-commerce. Online sports betting may be a target for fraud, but because every bettor must verify their location, the industry has the data to stop it before it starts. GeoComply is proud to be a cybersecurity asset to the industry. GeoComply’s unprecedented transaction figures from this Super Bowl weekend reflect the growth of legal online sports betting. This tightly regulated industry emphasizes consumer protection, transparency, and accountability. Every state that regulates sports betting is a blow to the predatory black market that operates in the shadows, providing zero safeguards for bettors and no economic benefit to the local community.”
Additionally, GeoComply also blocked 250,000 attempts of users who were trying to wager on the Super Bowl in Missouri, even though sports gambling isn’t legal in the state. Nonetheless, residents of the Show-Me State still have a glimmer of hope in that regard. Missouri legislators are currently preparing four bills for another shot at legalizing sports wagering within state lines.
Well, even with the fraud, an even more significant point to note is that the illegal wagering market that has been thriving in the past is declining. As more and more states come to the fold by legalizing sports wagering, the noose on illegal gambling around the US continues to tighten.
A Record-Breaking Super Bowl for the Sportsbooks
This year’s edition of the Super Bowl represented the first time it was held in a state with legalized sports wagering. Moreover, with the addition of Arkansas, Kansas, Maryland, and Ohio to the legal sports betting bandwagon, there was always bound to be a significant increase in the numbers.
As things stand, 44% of the total US population can now legally place their wagers, which is expected to rise in the coming months. Meanwhile, before the big game, the American Gaming Association (AGA) projected that a record 50.4 million people would bet on the event and wager a whopping $16 billion combined.
That said, sportsbooks also won big during the 57th installment of the Super Bowl competition. For instance, one of the big gun operators, FanDuel, projected it would handle more than 17 million wagers for the Super Bowl event. Later the sportsbook reported to CNBC that it processed 50,000 bets per minute and 2 million active users on its platform at the peak of Super Bowl betting action.
Similarly, BetMGM, another hotshot in the sports wagering industry, disclosed to CNBC that activity for this year’s event was its best yet. The operator recorded its largest Super Bowl handle in history and the highest volume of wagers it has seen for any single event so far.
You might also like