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Sportsbooks See Betting Surge Industry

Sportsbooks See Betting Surge as NFL Restarts

By Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer Updated: 23 September 2023

Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer

Amelia Walker is a Senior Content Writer at Betting.US. She has a law degree and deep knowledge of the gambling laws in the United States. Her mission is to keep players informed about responsible gambling, while her passion for sports helps her create useful guides. Amelia has over a decade of experience in betting, which has positioned her as a trusted voice among our readers.

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A new report has shown that betting surged during the first week of the NFL, exceeding most people’s expectations.

In total, there were over 242.3 million geolocation transactions during the first week of the NFL season. This represents a staggering 56 percent increase on week one from last year’s NFL. Geolocation transactions are simply when a sportsbook account makes a request to make a bet. They are also generated when a player logs into their account.

Speaking about the statistics from the first week of the season, GeoComply, the leader in helping sportsbooks find out where their customers are located when trying to place a bet, said:

As the most popular sports league in the US, the start of the NFL season is one of the most important times of the year for online sports betting operators.

It went on to state that more states than ever are allowing legal sports betting, which is a major factor in the increase in betting activity. There are now 25 states allowing people to place legal online wagers on sports, plus Washington DC has also legalized online sports betting.

Missourians Lead in Denied Geolocation Checks

Missourians initiated the most GeoComply checks that failed, as the state is yet to legalize sports betting. Overall, 262,000 Missourians tried to make online bets and were denied. Some did manage to place bets at land-based casinos, where sports betting is permitted. Georgia also saw a large number of refused requests, with 92,000 being denied the chance to place bets.

According to GeoComply, when a player is refused the chance to bet, they will often resort to betting at one of the “unscrupulous online sportsbooks” that market themselves as being legal, but that actually aren’t. These offshore sportsbooks don’t offer the same protection as regulated sportsbooks, putting gamblers at risk when using them.

GeoComply states that legalization of online sports betting is the best way to ensure that players don’t resort to unlicensed sportsbooks. They also stated that legalizing sports betting would enable states to reap financial rewards.

Week One Sees Surge in Account Creation

The first week of the NFL also saw huge numbers of players registering for a sports betting account, clearly eager to start placing bets on the football. In total, GeoComply assisted with the creation of over 1.1 million accounts nationwide during the first week of the season.

It was Ohioans who created the most new sports betting accounts, with people from the state opening 133,000 of them. Maryland came second, seeing 61,000 new accounts, while Massachusetts came in third, with 59,000 new accounts registered.

NFL Signals Start of Busy Season

The world of sports betting traditionally goes through a lull during the summer, with a lack of sporting events to bet on. This invariably leads to declining figures for sportsbooks throughout the country.

The start of the NFL signals the end of this lull, as hordes of bettors start placing wagers. The betting on football continues all the way up to the Super Bowl, where it pinnacles. Then follows the March Madness basketball tournament, which is also hugely popular with bettors.