From a gambling aspect, last Sunday’s Super Bowl 57 was a smashing success, but one operator experienced a nightmare scenario.
First the good news—GeoComply conducted a record 100 million geolocation checks across 23 U.S. states and the District of Columbia with legal, online sportsbooks on Super Bowl weekend, according to the company’s press release.
GeoComply processes geolocation checks to verify online sports bettors’ locations for the majority of the US online sports betting market.
The company, based in Vancouver, Canada, conducted more than 100 million geolocation checks on Saturday and Sunday, which was a 25 percent increase from the same period last year. They also registered 7.4 million accounts, a 32 percent increase from 2022.
New York was the leader in geolocation checks of the 23 states, with 13.9 million. Ohio was next with 12.6 million, then Pennsylvania: 11.8 million, New Jersey: 9.1 million, and Michigan: 7.5 million.
This was the first year a Super Bowl was hosted by a state with legalized sports betting.
Betting was popular at State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona, which saw more than 100,000 geolocation checks from more than 8,000 accounts in and around the stadium.
GeoComply Co-Founder & CEO Anna Sainsbury said in the release the company was excited about the results.
“Super Bowl LVII was a record-breaking event,” Sainsbury said. “GeoComply data reveals that Americans’ interest in legally betting on the Super Bowl has never been higher. It also showed that many fans at State Farm Stadium embraced their newfound ability to bet while watching the game in person.”
It is estimated that since May 2018, when the Supreme Court overturned the law banning sports betting, more than $2.47 billion in tax revenue has been raised by legal sports wagering. In 2022 and 2023, Arkansas, Kansas, Maryland, and Ohio allowed their residents to legally bet on sports. Now more than 44 percent of the U.S. population is able to bet legally on the game.
Kambi also reported heavy traffic on their mobile apps during the Super Bowl. The company, based in Malta, operates several sports betting apps, including BetRivers and Barstool.
They said in a press release that the volume was the second-highest ever for a single event. Same-game parlays made up more than a third of all bets placed.
OpenBet also reported record-setting numbers. The London-based company, which serves sportsbook leaders such as FanDuel, DraftKings, Ladbrokes and Sky Bet, said they processed more than 13.6 million bets and took in a handle of $295 million.
That translated into an increase of 145 percent in total bets and wagers compared to last year’s game, with a peak of 65,000 bets placed per minute. The company also said same-game parlays accounted for 27 percent of all bets. In addition, in-play betting accounted for 12 percent of all bets, an increase of 8 percent from 2022.
Jordan Levin, CEO at OpenBet, said in a press release that he wasn’t surprised by the numbers.
“Super Bowl LVII was a thoroughly entertaining spectacle and major sporting events like this are moments that matter for our partners,” Levin said. “Their investment behind player acquisition and retention relies heavily on searing technology and world class planning.”
Not everyone’s experience was super. William Hill saw its betting app go down before the game started and was finally fixed on Wednesday morning.
Users clicking on the app were sent to a page that read, “Unable to start. We are currently experiencing technical difficulties, we apologize for the inconvenience.”
The company put out a statement on Tuesday, after three days of no service.
“We have pinpointed the cause of the system failure and are now working through the resolution with all of our available resources,” the company said. They also said they would be honoring bets made before the app crashed.
It was also reported that William Hill will be putting in two deposits of $50 in free bets to any customer that was affected by the outage. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has already said it will be investigating the matter further.
