Ohio Bettors Extend Warm Welcome To Online Sportsbooks

If you were to view the most popular online apps in the Buckeye State in 2023 so far, it’s almost a sure thing that several Ohio sports betting platforms would top that list. According to the company that tracks device interactions with such apps, the first two days of legal online betting in Ohio were busy.

GeoComply says it recorded over 11 million online sportsbook transactions in Ohio on Jan. 1 and 2. While that number is sure to wane, it’s still a strong start for the state given its ranking among other similar launches.

Ohio sports betting sets off to a strong start

GeoComply says it recorded 11.3 million geolocation transactions on Jan. 1 and 2 in Ohio. Those were the first two days of legal sports betting in the state and those transactions were a total of activity from 16 separate sportsbooks.

Going deeper into the numbers, GeoComply says those 11.3 million transactions represented over 784,000 separate accounts. Many of those account holders wasted no time in taking part in their new legal activity.

GeoComply states that the first hour of 2023 encompassed more than 234,000 of those 11.3 million transactions. It’s important to note a few caveats to this data:

• Not all transactions represent actual bets. It simply means someone in Ohio completed an action that accessed the geolocation service of the sports betting app(s). Those transactions included account registrations, deposits, withdrawals, etc.
• Not all unique accounts represent separate individuals. Many bettors have accounts with multiple sportsbooks and each of those accounts will register as unique even though it’s the same person holding them with each separate app.
• The data do not report how many of the accounts and transactions pertained to new app users. Likewise, the data do not show how many correspond with people who reside in Ohio as opposed to people who live out-of-state and made the trip to Ohio to use the apps.

What’s clear, though, is that Ohio’s first two days were quite robust. Ohio kept GeoComply’s servers busier than any other market.

Where Ohio’s launch ranks within the country

GeoComply also states that the number of transactions and unique accounts accounted for the greatest plurality of activity on GeoComply’s system on Sunday and Monday. The 11.3 million transactions outpaced every other active market, including neighboring Pennsylvania.

Ohio’s transaction total nearly doubled Michigan’s sum for the same two days (5.8 million). In terms of unique accounts accessing the geolocation verification, the 783,864 total in Ohio surpassed those in every other market as well on Jan. 1 and 2.

As you would expect, the sports centers of the states were the busiest on those two days.

1. Cincinnati – 1.8 million transactions
2. Columbus – 1 million
3. Cleveland – 772,000
4. Toledo – 619,000

As the newness of legal apps for sports betting wears off, these numbers should decline. However, the figures suggest that Ohio is capable of competing with its neighbors in this regard.

On Jan. 1 and 2, the betting activity was O-HIGH-O.