GeoComply, the company perhaps best known for tracking the location of potential sports wagering customers, has reported its sports betting-related observations from the first week of the NFL season. The report was national in scope and included Maryland sportsbooks.
In states that have legalized online sports betting, such as Maryland, persons who want to place a bet must be physically located within the borders of that state. GeoComply makes sure that is the case.
And with its data, GeoComply can gauge the enthusiasm for sports betting across the country, and in specific states.
Maryland Sportsbook Apps Busy For NFL Week 1
Online Maryland sports betting apps launched in November 2022 following the earlier launch of retail sports wagering. So, this recent weekend marked the first time that Marylanders could bet on Week 1 of an NFL season on their mobile devices or computers.
What GeoComply found regarding Maryland online sports betting for Sept. 3-10 was:
- There were 12.7 million “geolocation transactions” in the state. A geolocation transaction is not necessarily an actual bet, but it is an instance where a person makes contact with a gambling website. So, the number of geolocation transactions reflects the level of interest in sports gambling.
- There were 388,000 active gambling accounts during the first 2023 NFL week, Sept. 3-10.
- And 61,000 new accounts were created during the period Sept. 3-Sept. 10.
Many of those mobile sportsbook operators offer real money Maryland sports betting promo codes.
As sports gambling has been legalized in more U.S. jurisdictions, particularly online wagering, GeoComply’s observations illustrate the impact of the greater accessibility and the convenience to sports wagering.
Massive Spike During Lions-Chiefs Game
The first game of the 2023 season was a nationally televised Thursday night game between Detroit and Kansas City. The Lions, who are expected to be contenders this season, went on to upset the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, 21-20, in a back-and-forth contest.
GeoComply reported that when the Lions scored the first touchdown of the game, there was what the company called a “massive spike in traffic totaling 4,200 (geolocation) transactions per second immediately following the score.” GeoComply said that spike was the “highest rate of volume throughout the first week of NFL games ever.”
With NFL season underway, you can track Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl odds here.
Number of Interactions Way Up From 2022
Further, GeoComply noted that it recorded 242.3 million geolocation transactions across its United States regulated online sportsbook customers during this first week. That was a 56% increase from the corresponding time in 2022.
During Week 1 of the NFL season GeoComply reported 1.1 million new player accounts created across its U.S. sportsbook customers. That was an increase of 40% over 2022.
In addition to Maryland legalizing online sports betting in late 2022, Ohio and Massachusetts launched mobile sports wagering in 2023. In Ohio, 133,000 new wagering accounts were created during the Sept. 3-10 period, and in Massachusetts, 59,000 new accounts were created during the same time. So, for just those three states, there were about 253,000 new accounts created in Week 1 of the NFL season.
At Caesars Maryland Sportsbook, the Ravens are a 3.5-point underdog for their Week 2 game at Cincinnati against the Bengals on Sunday.
