Online bets surge as NFL kicks off, indicating a busy year

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The level of online betting activity on Thursday night’s NFL kickoff game surged 77% over the level from last year’s opener. That’s according to a company that most of the legal U.S. sports betting industry uses to verify that its customers are where they say they are. Data released by GeoComply recorded 22.6 million location verification transactions Thursday before and during the Buffalo Bills’ 31-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams. The company says that was up from 12.7 million such transactions from the 2021 season opener, and seems to indicate “the biggest season yet” for legal betting on the NFL.