U.S. Online Sports Betting Activity Surges in NFL’s Week 1

Geolocation volumes from Thursday to midnight Eastern Time on Sunday were up 71.5% compared to Week 1 of 2021. There were 103.1 million verification transactions for the NFL's opening slate of games. New York's launch of online sports betting in January has been a huge driver of activity for bookmakers. Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, and New york are in the midst of their first NFL regular season with legal online betting.

There were 15.7 million geolocation checks in New York during the first week of NFL action. Pennsylvania had 15,3 million and New Jersey 13.5 million. Michigan and Illinois were the next-busiest jurisdictions with 9. 7 million transactions and 8 million, respectively. Illinois saw 60% growth in transaction volumes following the end of the in-person registration requirement for mobile wagering earlier this year.