- Cincinnati was the busiest city in Ohio during Super Bowl weekend with more than 1.8 million betting transactions recorded.
- Ohio in general ranked second only to New York’s 13.9 geolocation transactions with 12.6 million checks performed during Super Bowl weekend.
- A record 50.4 million adult Americans were expected to wager a total of $16 billion, twice as much as the total handle of 2022.
It’s safe to say that the future looks bright for sports betting in Cincinnati, and Ohio as a whole. Data from geolocation service provider Geocomply show that bettors from The Queen City placed more bets on Super Bowl weekend than punters from any part of Ohio.
According to a report from the Cincinnati Business Courier, Geocomply recorded more than 1.8 million betting transactions in Greater Cincinnati, which is within a 30-mile radius of the city.
That number beat Cleveland which had 1.6 million sports betting transactions and Columbus which had 1.3 million. Cincinnati also generated the third-highest TV ratings in the United States during Super Bowl LVII, with only Kansas City and Philadelphia doing better. Given that both KC and Philly had their team play in the Big Game, Cincinnati’s feat was impressive.
đź—˝New York topped all states with 13.9 million geolocation checks over Super Bowl weekend.
For more GeoComply data insights, click here: https://t.co/eXakMfZyWV#SuperBowlLVII pic.twitter.com/W2tHKTU9j4
— GeoComply (@GeoComply) February 14, 2023
Cincinnati, Ohio Sports Betting Off to a Strong Start
Meanwhile, Ohio registered more than 12.6 million betting transactions over Super Bowl weekend. That ranks second overall in the entire United States market with only New York’s 13.9 million bets better.
In a statement, per the Cincinnati Business Courier, Geocomply co-founder and CEO Ana Sainsbury praised the Ohio sports betting market. Per Sainsbury:
“Super Bowl LVII was a record-breaking event for Ohio’s brand-new sports betting market. GeoComply data reveals that Ohioans embraced their newfound ability to legally bet on the Super Bowl.”
Ohio sports betting launched on New Year’s Day and Geocomply noted that during its first hour of going live, a total of 234,000 betting transactions were recorded. Overall, Ohio had 11.3 million geolocation transactions on January 1-2, the most by any state in the U.S. during that span. The massive New York market came in second with 9.3 million transactions.
The state’s strong numbers, Cincinnati’s in particular, validates what sports betting operators and analysts have said about the Buckeye State.
Hard Rock says that Cincinnati is its top mobile market nationwide and the Hard Rock Casino Sportsbook Cincinnati was the company’s busiest sports betting shop during the month of January.
Meanwhile, Las Vegas SuperBook, which partnered with Cincinnati FC for retail Ohio sports betting, says that its Cincinnati handle is already meeting expectations and matching the numbers from other markets that have been open for more than a year.
Ohio’s success on Super Bowl Sunday came on the heels of the most bet Super Bowl game in history. With more states having live sports betting markets this year than ever, experts predicted record-breaking betting numbers from Super Bowl LVII. Although the final numbers are not yet out, it looks like they were right.
More States Have Live Sports Betting Markets This Year
As of January 31, 2023, a total of 33 states and Washington D.C. had live legal sports betting, including Ohio and Massachusetts which were the latest to launch.
Ohio debuted with 12 brick-and-mortar sportsbooks and 16 digital sports betting operators with more expected to follow soon. Then there are more than 1,000 Type C sports betting license holders across the state.
Online sports betting is not yet live in Massachusetts although that market is expected to launch before the next big betting event – March Madness.
Florida, Maine, and Nebraska have also legalized sports betting but are not yet operational. Florida legalized sports betting in November 2021 but its launch has been put on hold due to a legal battle.
Maine was the first state to go legal in 2022 but the state’s sports betting rules were just recently released. On the other hand, Nebraska legalized only in-person sports betting and the state is still awaiting the completion of its casinos to start accepting bets.
Meanwhile, 8 other states have active legislation or ballot initiatives, leaving only Alabama, Alaska, California, Idaho, Minnesota, and Utah as the six remaining states that do not plan to legalize sports betting soon. Still, the number of states that were live at Super Bowl LVII was more than in previous years.
Before Super Bowl 57, the American Gaming Association released a survey that said a record 50.4 million American adults planned to place a bet on the Big Game.
That amount represented 20% of the total United State population and a 60% increase from last year’s 31.4 million. Last year, the percentage of increase versus 2021 was listed at 35%.
The same survey also estimated that those bettors would wager a total of $16 billion, an amount that doubles last year’s estimate of $7.61 billion.
