Geolocation specialist GeoComply recorded more than 100 million online betting transactions over the latest Super Bowl weekend, an increase of 25% on last year’s figures.
The company completed the geolocation checks across 23 states and the District of Columbia, where online sports wagering is regulated.
The firm also helped register 7.4 million new betting accounts over the weekend, an increase of 32% year-on-year.More than 100,000 geolocation checks from over 8,000 sportsbook accounts were made in and around State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where the Super Bowl took place.
“Super Bowl LVII was a record-breaking event,” said GeoComply co-founder and CEO Anna Sainsbury.
“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.”
Both the venue and the home regions of the two participating teams had a positive effect on betting activity in their respective states, GeoComply said.
GeoComply co-founder and CEO Anna Sainsbury: “Super Bowl LVII was a record-breaking event. GeoComply data reveals that Americans’ interest in legally betting on the Super Bowl has never been higher.”
Online sports betting is legal in Arizona, where the game took place, while “huge swaths of Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs fans hail from legal sports betting strongholds,” GeoComply said.
The firm pointed out however, that while it recorded 2.2 million sports betting geolocation transactions in Kansas, many Kansas City Chiefs fans are located in Missouri, where sports betting is still not legal.
Some 250,000 attempts to bet from Missouri with operators in regulated states were blocked by GeoComply over the weekend.The highest volume of bets on a state-by-state basis took place in New York, where some 13.8 million geolocation checks took place over the weekend.
Ohio boasted 12.6 million checks while Philadelphia saw 11.8 million.
The firm said it also spotted and blocked more than 140,000 fraud attempts over the weekend, as the Super Bowl saw an increased number of cyber criminals try to take advantage of customers through account takeovers, ID theft and other financial fraud.
“It’s no secret that online fraud is a growing concern across all forms of e-commerce,” commented Sainsbury.
“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 cyber security asset to the industry.”
Sainsbury continued: “GeoComply’s unprecedented transaction figures from this Super Bowl weekend reflect the growth of legal online sports betting. This tightly regulated industry emphasises 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.”
American Gaming Association predictions released last week suggested that some 50.4m Americans – or 20% of the adult population – would place a bet on the Super Bowl.
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, meanwhile, projected that around $1.06bn in wagers would be placed through regulated sportsbooks, accounting for nearly 1% of all regulated US sports betting handle annually.