The state of Arizona launched legal sports betting on September 9 to coincide with the beginning of the 2021 NFL season. This was a strategic move, and it appeared as if the decision paid off in a big way on opening weekend.
Experts in the US sports betting industry predicted that Arizona could potentially become one of the biggest markets in the United States, but it is happening much sooner than expected. Sports bettors in Arizona proved that they were waiting for opening day, and the state flew past other states for the amount of action it saw this past weekend.
GeoComply is a geolocation service that tracks all of the legal US sports betting action from around the country. According to data that was released by the company, there were 6.1 million “pings” between the time the industry launched and Sunday afternoon.
This company also noted that there were over 270,000 new accounts created in Arizona during the first four days, and many more will be coming. With this much action, Arizona made up close to 10 percent of all of the sports betting action for Week 1 of the NFL season.
The three states that saw more action this past weekend were: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Illinois was fifth on the list, and a majority of these states, along with Nevada, continue to lead the entire US sports betting industry.
Arizona has the potential to have up to 20 online sports betting operators at some point, but there weren’t that many options on Opening Day. This is a state that was able to attract all of the biggest names in the industry, and that is another big reason that sports bettors flocked to these betting sites.
The official data for the entire month of September won’t be available until sometime in October, but it appears that Arizona could be on the way to shattering records for the best first month in the history of the industry. The Arizona Department of Gaming will also point out which was the most popular betting market, but it is widely assumed that it will be football.
The Arizona Cardinals picked up an impressive Week 1 victory over the Tennessee Titans, and that win could hurt the sportsbooks. Arizona was a three-point underdog, but that likely didn’t scare away many bettors from betting on the local team.
Biggest States Even See Growth
The end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 saw some record-setting numbers for many states throughout the US. Legal sports betting in the US really started to slow down over the last few months, but that will change when it comes to football.
The results from states like New Jersey and Pennsylvania were remarkable as well, and those are two states that have a very well-established industry. New Jersey saw an increase in the action of 35% year-over-year, and the jump in Pennsylvania was close to 46%.
While Arizona is not going to see as many new accounts created for Week 2, there could still be a big jump in action.
