GeoComply: Super Bowl LIX data showed 14% increase in active accounts

Compliance and geolocation tech supplier GeoComply released its annual data report after the game on Sunday (9 February). The top-line news was a 14% year-on-year increase in active legal online sports betting accounts.

This is welcome news for the industry, especially given that there were no new markets launched for this year’s game. Missouri voters legalised sports betting there last November but the market has yet to launch. Over the course of the weekend, GeoComply said there were 724,400 new accounts created from 12am Saturday (8 February) through the end of the game Sunday night.

The other big takeaway from the report was the growth rate of active users in states that have taken action against illegal operators.

No markets or numbers were given, but user growth in states that have taken enforcement action was reportedly “twice as high” as in states that have not. Since last year’s game, 14 state regulators have sent cease-and-desist letters to at least one offshore operator.

Spikes in Louisiana

For the third straight year, the game was played in a legal sports betting state (Louisiana). The previous two were in Nevada and Arizona. Per the GeoComply report, there were 535,000 geolocation transactions (wagers) in New Orleans from approximately 60,400 accounts over the weekend.

There are two weeks in between the conference championships and Super Bowl – transactions increased 150% and users jumped 220% week-over-week.

The peak wagering activity during the game came just before half time. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver AJ Brown to put Philadelphia up 24-0 with a minute and 40 seconds remaining in the second quarter. At that point, GeoComply said there was a spike of 14,300 geolocation transactions per second. The Eagles never trailed in the game and ultimately won 40-22.