BetMGM has revealed annual growth on NFL betting activity and volume at the halfway point of the season, with players in new states able to legally bet for the first season.
The operator published a report detailing notable statistics from the NFL season so far as the campaign hits the midway stage. It revealed that there has been a 26% yearly annual increase in NFL betting on its platform.
In the last year, several states have launched sports betting and BetMGM has gone live in those states. These include Maryland’s online launch, Ohio, Massachusetts and Kentucky.
The most bet-on teams, per the BetMGM data, are current Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, both of which are favorites for this year’s title.
Christian Cipollini, Trading Manager at BetMGM, stated: “It has been a great NFL season so far at BetMGM. Favorable outcomes in primetime games and unders hitting at a high rate are the main factors in making this season a success for the sportsbook.”
Despite the Chiefs and Eagles being the most bet-on teams, the teams with the highest handle to win this year’s crown are the San Francisco 49ers at 13.7%, the Buffalo Bills at 9.8% and then the Chiefs at 9.4%.
Meanwhile, the teams with the highest tickets are the Eagles at 9.8%, the Cincinnati Bengals at 9.3% and the Chiefs at 8.8%.
One of the more unlikely storylines from this year’s NFL is Taylor Swift’s rumored interest in Travis Kelce. Earlier in the season, Tipico noted that bets on Kelce between weeks three and four had increased by around 100% as Swift’s fans bet on her new partner.
BetMGM has witnessed a similar trajectory, as Kelce is the most bet on for anytime touchdowns, followed by Tyreek Hill, Breece Hall, Sam Laporta and Stefon Diggs.
Kelce is also number three in most bet on first touchdowns after Laporta and Amon-Ra St.Brown.
Cipollini added: “The Taylor Swift effect is definitely real and even bettors can’t shake it off. When she is rumored to attend a game the amount of bets placed on Kelce’s player props have a notable increase.”
Per Entain, one of BetMGM’s joint parents, the operator’s revenue has increased by 15% on an annual basis during Q3, reaching around $458m. This is vastly supported by its igaming operations which have seen revenue grow by 22% YoY. Online casino growth has been attributed to “the quality and the range of games that we provide from in-house developed games”.
Entertain and MGM Resorts are targeting 25% market share in sports betting and online casino in the US and are prepared to invest more to achieve that aim.
Entain CEO Jette Nygaard Andersen stated: “The important thing is that BetMGM has two highly complementary parents completely aligned on the path forward to invest in and grow our position in the US market. So let there be no doubt that we want to win in the US. We’ve been punching above our weight, and dollar for dollar we’ve delivered the strongest market share return on investment in the US thus far.”
