Ohio embraced the arrival of online sports betting sites with open arms, and there are now numbers to back that up.
There were 11.3 million geolocation transactions with mobile sportsbooks in Ohio over the New Year’s weekend, GeoComply Solutions Inc. said on Tuesday.
That was more than any other state the technology company was monitoring, including New York, which has about eight million more people living there.
Legal sports betting in Ohio began on January 1. Over the next two days, approximately 784,000 unique accounts were created with 16 online sportsbook operators, said GeoComply, which helps companies determine the location of customers.
“The impressive start vaulted Ohio to the top of the list of states with the most geolocation volumes recorded by GeoComply over the New Year’s weekend, even surpassing New York,” the Vancouver-based technology company said.
A fast start for sports betting in Ohio, as @GeoComply says it recorded 11.3 million geolocation transactions in the Buckeye State over the New Year's weekend, more than any other state monitored by the tech company. pic.twitter.com/z8ZWJWpSXV
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) January 3, 2023
GeoComply’s numbers confirm what was widely suspected about Ohio given its population size, which is that it was going to be a significant state for the sports-betting industry. Such was the level of demand in the Buckeye State that there were approximately 234,000 geolocation transactions during the first hour of legal wagering on New Year's Day, according to the company.
After drilling deeper into the numbers, GeoComply found that Cincinnati was the busiest sports-betting city over the weekend, as there were nearly 1.9 million geolocation transactions there. Columbus placed second with around one million transactions, followed by Cleveland with 772,000 transactions in the wake of the start of legal sports betting.
“As expected, residents of the Buckeye State enthusiastically greeted the market at the moment the calendar changed over to 2023,” said Lindsay Slader, GeoComply’s senior vice president of compliance, in a press release. “Today, about 44 percent of the American population can bet online with legal and responsible operators. The launch of regulated online sports betting in Ohio will better protect its citizens, with an increased commitment to responsible gambling and new funding for critical state programs."
