Data from a geolocation company that helps online sports betting sites nail down the location of players suggests there is robust demand for event wagering in Georgia, where there are currently no legal bookmakers.
Vancouver-based GeoComply Solutions Inc. recently shared Georgia-related geolocation transaction numbers with Covers for the 2022-23 National Football League season, a time of peak demand for legal sports betting.
Those figures show the technology company identified and helped block approximately 1.4 million attempts by Georgians to access legal sportsbooks in other states from Sept. 8, 2022 (the start of the NFL's regular season), to the end of the day on Feb. 12, 2023 (a.k.a. Super Bowl Sunday).
Of those attempts, 43.4% were to access online sports betting sites in Tennessee. The transactions were attributed to more than 128,000 unique player accounts as well, another indicator of a strong desire for Georgia sports betting.
Timely figures
On Super Bowl Sunday specifically, GeoComply identified around 28,000 attempts in Georgia to access legal sportsbooks beyond the state's borders. Again, 37% of those geolocation checks were in connection with mobile sportsbooks in nearby Tennessee.
The numbers come as multiple bills are circulating in the Georgia legislature that could bring legal sports betting to the state. Whether they pass remains to be seen, but the GeoComply data could provide a compelling argument for state lawmakers to approve sports betting-related legislation this session.
GeoComply noted that Tennessee appears to be a major beneficiary of Georgia's sports-betting ban, as the former state is earning tax revenue that could be going to the latter. Georgia would also become one the larger legal wagering markets in the U.S. overnight, if legislation is ever approved, given the southern state’s significant population.
