Arizona Sports Betting Clears $4B in Lifetime Handle

Arizona sports betting has become the 11th state to clear $4 billion in lifetime handle, according to the state’s official report released for April.

The Copper State’s operators handled $513 million for April – the first month of the summer slump in the US sports betting calendar.

Arizona reached the milestone in its eighth month of legal wagering, clearing the $500 million handle in three of the first four months this year. In December, the state just fell $800,000 short of reporting its maiden $500 million handle.

Arizona operators posted a record $691 million in wagers during March.

Arizona sports betting went live on Sept. 9, 2021, to coincide with the NFL kick-off. Though the April handle represented a 25.8% decrease from March’s total, it is still the third-highest since the state launched legal wagering.

Arizona Sports Betting Ranks Sixth-Largest in April

Arizona became the sixth largest state in handle for the month of April, behind New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. The Copper State’s $513 million was less than $60 million behind Pennsylvania and $77 less than neighboring Nevada.

Arizona operators won $16.5 million in gross sports wagering revenue from the month of April. In addition, the state generated nearly $1.6 million in sports wagering tax.

The Copper State has so far reported $2.2 billion worth of bets in the first four months of 2022, collecting the total for the year to over $6.1 million.

Very few major sports betting events took place in April except for the NBA Playoffs and the Masters (PGA). Due to shrinking options, US sports betting traditionally witnesses a lull from April to August.

However, Arizona sports betting appears to have stayed strong during the start of the so-called summer slump, managing a decent place among the top 10 US sports betting markets in April.

1. New York: $1.39 billion
2. New Jersey: $926.9 million
3. Illinois: $839.3 million
4. Nevada: $582.5 million
5. Pennsylvania: $572.8 million
6. Arizona: $512.8 million
7. Virginia: $399.4 million
8. Michigan: $396 million
9. Colorado: $392.3 million
10. Indiana: $360 million

FanDuel, DraftKings Grab Nearly 60% Market Share

FanDuel and DraftKings combined to take more than $300 million in the handle. The New York-based FanDuel became the second Arizona operator after its eternal rival DraftKings to top $1 billion in online handle in the Copper State. FanDuel posted $149.8 million in handle for April.

FanDuel reported the highest revenue by any operator since the Arizona launch, claiming nearly $16.2 million in gross revenue with a 10.8% hold. The New York operator’s 12.3 million in adjusted revenue accounted for nearly 75% of the state’s total tax receipts.

In contrast, DraftKings posted around $1.5 million in gross revenue with a hold rate of under 1% for April. All that went to promotional credits, leading to DraftKings’ first month of negative revenue since launch.

BetMGM reported $100.6 million in bets, with over $7.7 million in gross revenue. The digital sports betting arm of the Nevada-based MGM Resorts dished out around $5.1 million in promotional credits.

Caesars Sportsbook had a freefall in the month-over-month handle, decreasing 34.6% to $62.3 million. Its gross revenue of $1.7 million was also the lowest since launch.

Barstool Sportsbook, the fifth-largest operator by the handle, took $16.8 million in wagers. Meanwhile, BetRivers posted a monthly best of over $6.2 million, reporting a positive net adjusted revenue for April.

According to Ted Vogt, the director of the ADG, the revenue numbers from April are promising as they move forward into the summer. He said he would be excited to see how Arizona closes out its first year of legal event wagering in the coming months.