NFL Week 1 is in the books, and it was a near-record week for the sportsbooks — at least in terms of app downloads.
According to a note issued by JMP Securities, the Tuesday through Monday “week” that represented Week 1 of the NFL resulted in over 972,000 downloads of sportsbook apps.
That number was 15% higher than 2022’s comparable week, and it represents the second-highest week of downloads since PASPA was struck down, according to the note. It trailed only the week leading up to the 2022 Super Bowl between the Rams and the Bengals.
Notably, the last day of the NFL week on Monday saw the biggest increase in downloads, up 77% year-over-year. In terms of raw number of downloads, Sunday led the way, with Saturday trailing close behind.
FanDuel at 34% and DraftKings at 33% represented the bulk of new downloads, but the third-place finisher — the combination of Fanatics and its newly acquired PointsBet — is sure to raise some industry eyebrows. Taken together, the two apps accounted for 12% of the total market share.
Rounding out the rest were BetMGM at 11%, Caesars and bet365 at 3% each, Barstool Sportsbook at 2%, BetRivers at 1%, and Bally Bet at 0.1%.
One other nugget from JMP’s intel: Viewership for the opening Thursday night battle between the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions was up 24% year-over-year. It would appear the NFL is alive and well, so no worries on that score.
