New data published by GeoComply Solutions this week indicates that the desired shift away from black market sports betting in the US towards legalized forms of sports wagering continues to gather momentum.
According to the geolocation security specialist, tens of millions of Americans now have the choice to bet legally with state-approved and regulated sportsbooks during this current NFL season. In what can only be interpreted as a sign of dismal days ahead for the illegal market, legal online sports betting volumes have more than doubled from last year in just 12 months.
The combination of new sports betting states and American consumers migrating to legal sportsbooks has resulted in the highest four-day stretch of geolocation transactions ever recorded by GeoComply.
The firm’s compliance services are currently used to support nearly 100% of the US online sports betting market.
Managing Director Lindsay Slader commented: “Preparing for this NFL season has been a process that began before the end of last season, and we expected high volumes, but what we have seen has surprised us nonetheless.
“The level of demand across new markets, such as Arizona, indicates that consumers have long waited for the option to legally place a sports bet.
“The data tells a remarkable story about the growth of the industry in a short period of time. This success is a credit to all our clients and state regulators, who have worked tirelessly to prepare for the start of the new NFL season.”
According to GeoComply’s data, there were 58.2 million geolocation transactions across 18 states and the District of Columbia, from September 9 to 7pm ET on September 12. This represents a 126% increase from the same period of the 2020 NFL season when the company processed 25.8 million transactions.
The data also reveals that the states with the highest volume of transactions were New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona and Illinois.
Arizona, which launched on the first day of the NFL season, has seen more than 6.1 million geolocation transactions from more than 271,000 newly-created accounts since Thursday, when the state-regulated sportsbooks first went live.
“Arizona is showing that there is pent up demand for sports betting in the western part of the US,” Slader added. “The state has catapulted near the top as the 4th largest state for transactions, in just its first weekend. We haven’t seen anything quite like it.
“I am immensely proud of the GeoComply team who has put in thousands of hours to ensure a seamless and most importantly, safe start to the NFL season. Whether it’s confirming location, verifying identities or detecting and thwarting possible fraud, our geolocation compliance and security solutions are committed to support the regulated online gaming environment.”
The company also confirmed that it plans to release its data periodically throughout the 2021/2022 sports calendar to help inform insight and discussions about the US sports betting industry.
