From WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (AP) – Divers or astronauts on the International Space Station may be the only people who in the past two weeks have avoided a flood of advertisements enticing them to bet on the Super Bowl.
But the expensive, ubiquitous customers have been able to attract new customers to many of the largest sports betting in the country, which bodes well for the fast growing legal sports betting industry in the US
The gambling companies won’t reveal exactly how many new customers they have won in the run-up to Sunday’s Super Bowl. But in general, they say the deluge of ads – many of which featured easy-to-win bets for new players – have managed to attract new customers whom they hope will keep betting with them.
Larry Faller of Sterling Heights, Mich., Was one of those who was bombarded with Super Bowl betting ads. He chose BetRivers.com, which is operated by Rush Street Interactive, which offered a $ 500 match on his first $ 100 deposit.
“It seemed like a nice offer so I took it,” said Faller, a 67-year-old retired newspaper press.
He signed up four hours before the NFL title game kicked off and used his money to place bets on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the Super Bowl outright and get a point spread. (Tampa Bay defeated defending champions Kansas City Chiefs 31-9.)
Richard Schwartz, president of Rush Street Interactive, said the cost of customer acquisition in the sports betting industry is expensive and is likely to increase as the industry grows. He said the company had seen “strong returns” on such spending, including the pre-Super Bowl push.
Keith Gormley, Head of US Marketing at Tipico, agreed. His sports betting originated in Europe and, more recently, betting in New Jersey and Colorado.
“This market is extremely competitive,” he said. “They have dozens of sports betting and casino brands that are all out spending TV, radio, digital, and sponsorship to attract the same customer. Expensive bonuses and bulk advertising sure get them in the door, but a great mobile product and great customer support is what keeps them playing with your book in the long run. “
Tipico has matched initial deposits from new customers up to $ 750. Other sports betting offered similar games.
Some offered almost straightforward bets – only for new customers – that were extremely easy to win, e.g. For example, winnings of $ 100 if one of the teams scored a touchdown, or wildly inflated odds that would pay out $ 275 on a $ 5 bet.
The ads covered the radio waves on television and radio, and went online, in print, and on billboards to the point where it was hard to avoid seeing multiple requests to bet on the big game.
“It was the most irritating thing,” said Eddie Trunk, a New Jersey radio personality with shows of classic rock and heavy metal. “I have a huge Twitter presence, and every third or fourth tweet on my feed was an ad trying to get me to bet on the Super Bowl instead of being a message from someone I actually follow.”
FanDuel said there was “a huge surge in new players” prior to the game.
“We are investing a lot in the Super Bowl because it is our biggest single sporting event on the calendar to attract new sports betting customers,” said spokesman Kevin Hennessy. “It’s a day when most people bet on sports so there really isn’t any.” larger single event in the USA “
FanDuel paid out $ 17 million to new customers on a 55-to-1 chance of winning, and its app was the third most downloaded Apple Store on Sunday after TikTok and Robinhood, Hennessy said.
According to Tipico, new customer registrations increased by 120% in the two weeks before the Super Bowl and by 400% on the day of the game.
“It’s been a monster weekend for us,” said Gormley.
It was a monster weekend for New Jersey too. The state, which won a 2018 US Supreme Court case that paved the way for every state to offer legal sports betting, put more than $ 117 million on this year’s Super Bowl. The 12 retail and 21 mobile sports bets retained $ 11.3 million of that as profit.
The level of New Jersey betting on the Super Bowl increased 116% year over year.
Pennsylvania bets were $ 53.6 million, up 74% year over year. The books will be kept approximately $ 9.4 million.
Most analysts predict that at least half of the country will have legal sports betting by the end of 2021, after which the expansion will continue.
Follow Wayne Parry at http://twitter.com/WayneParryAC
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