The NFL has already turned its attention to the future, leaving Super Bowl 58 – and the Kansas City Chiefs celebrating a third title in five years – in its rearview mirror.
But before we completely move on to the 2024 NFL Draft and the ensuing season, we should reflect on the amount of action seen around the New York sports betting industry.
The New York State Gaming Commission has not released revenue data specific to the NFL championship game played on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas. But GeoComply provided some insight into how much the Empire State was active during the Super Bowl.
Super Bowl betting took off for 2024 NFL championship
According to GeoComply, a global leader in anti-fraud and geolocation compliance technology, legal sportsbooks in the United States saw some 8.5 million active accounts during Super Bowl weekend. That total led to a massive 22.3% increase in geolocation checks, which occurs when a user logs into their sportsbook account.
“This sustained growth,” GeoComply concluded in a press release, “underscores an important shift in the US towards a state-regulated, taxed, and secure betting environment, enabling more Americans to place legal bets on the year’s most anticipated football game.”
In addition to the active accounts total reflecting a 15% spike over the 2023 Super Bowl, the big game also saw over 1.77 million new users sign up with legal sportsbooks. That capped off a 2023 NFL season that featured more than 13.7 million new accounts created, a 28% increase from the previous season. On top of it all, just before kickoff, GeoComply reported 14.75 thousand transactions per second, the highest ever recorded and nearly doubling last year’s Super Bowl peak.
“The continued transition to the legal market set the stage for a historic first Super Bowl in Las Vegas, and the record-breaking results we saw did not disappoint,” Anna Sainsbury, CEO and cofounder of GeoComply, said in a statement.
“We are proud to help foster the growth of a regulated industry that puts accountability, security and player protection at the forefront. Compliance drives our mission, and with that commitment, we strive to help our customers reliably and responsibly expand the player funnel and boost their businesses. Every year the legal market grows is good news for consumers and states and bad news for illegal offshore sportsbooks that become marginalized.”
How New York played into record-setting growth
For New York, the 2024 Super Bowl marked the third NFL championship since the online sports betting scene launched in January 2022.
Last year, GeoComply reported that New York accounted for 13.9 million geolocation checks and 851,000 unique accounts. As per usual with sports betting in New York, those numbers increased in 2024.
According to GeoComply, bettors in the Empire State combined for 16.84 million transactions during Super Bowl weekend. The state also featured over 942,000 active accounts and the creation of more than 85,000 new accounts.
Compare that with neighboring New Jersey, which had 10.55 million transactions, over 652,000 active accounts and the creation of more than 52,000 new accounts.
Super Bowl betting numbers still not confirmed
Heading into the 2024 Super Bowl, New York stood to take in among the highest total number of bets in the country.
As reported by PlayNY sister site Legal Sports Report, the Empire State was projected to near $140 million in handle from Super Bowl betting in New York. That total came a year after New York sportsbooks handled just over $100 million for the 2023 Super Bowl following a projection of around $150 million in bets.
As noted, the New York State Gaming Commission has not released sports betting data specifically relating to the most recent Super Bowl. And while the weekly reports don’t tell the entire story, there is some inference to be made.
According to the NYSGC, sports betting activity spiked to $474.6 million in handle for the week of the 2024 Super Bowl, up significantly from the $424.3 million seen in 2023 and $472.1 million in 2022.
The week of Super Bowl 58 stands as the eighth-best in terms of handle since online sports betting in NY launched in January 2022. However, the $5.1 million in gross gaming revenue stands as the industry’s lowest.
