The opening weekend of the NFL season was “an unbelievable start,” according to figures released from geolocation and fraud specialist GeoComply. Geolocation volumes shot up 71.5 percent from 60.1m in 2021 to a record 103.1m for NFL opening weekend 2022, according to GeoComply’s statistics.

“Our data indicates 71.5 percent growth from this same period last year. Clearly an unbelievable start to the NFL season,” said Anna Sainsbury, GeoComply’s Chief Executive Officer. “The growth of legal betting suggests that Americans are ditching offshore sportsbooks for regulated options in their home states. This is exactly the outcome legislators and regulators looked to achieve through legalization as they now protect consumers and increase tax revenues.”

The addition of Arkansas, Connecticut, Kansas, Louisiana and New York since opening day 2021 takes the number of live, regulated online sports betting states to 25, plus the District of Columbia. New York shot straight to number one in GeoComply’s chart of states with the highest volumes of transactions.

Data for the NFL opening weekend analysis was collected from Thursday, September 8th through midnight ET on Sunday, September 11th.

“New York continues its reign as ‘King of the Hill’ with 15.3 percent market share for US betting, but we are also seeing strong growth across the country,” said Sainsbury.

Pennsylvania’s total number of geolocation checks rose 29.7 percent to 15.3m from 11.8m last year. It moved up to second place in the US market with a 14.8 percent market share. It trailed New York by just 400,000 transactions.

Illinois jumped 60 percent from 5m in 2021 to 8m this weekend after legislators allowed mobile registration instead of the in-person registration at the state’s casinos and tracks, which was previously required. New Jersey and Michigan complete the top five.

“GeoComply has worked hand in glove with our customers over the offseason to ensure a seamless and, most importantly, safe start to the NFL season. Whether it’s confirming location, verifying identities or detecting and thwarting possible fraud, our technology solutions are leading the way to support the regulated online gaming environment,” concluded Sainsbury.

GeoComply has a unique view of the US online sports betting market as the trusted geolocation supplier for almost 100 percent of the country’s operators. Therefore its statistics provide a reliable overview and insight into the state of the industry.