Arizona Hits Sports Betting Milestone During Solid April

The Arizona Department of Gaming on Thursday released their long-awaited April earnings report. Their latest press release revealed some good news and bad news for the sports betting scene in the Grand Canyon State.

Arizona sports betting suffered a typical spring/summer month-over-month slowdown in wagering action, but year-over-year figures revealed a slight increase in overall betting activity. The best sports betting apps, combined with their retail sector also helped the state reach a milestone after April's figures were factored in. Let's break it all down. 

How much was bet in April?

Sports bettors in Arizona spent a total of  $535,712,027 at their retail and mobile legal sports betting destinations in April, which represents the lowest total for the state since August. It also represents a 16.8% month-over-month drop from March’s impressive NCAA Basketball-fueled totals of $644.8 million.

The April 2023 figures, while more than $100 million less than the previous month, were still 4.5% higher than the state sports betting totals from April 2022 when just under $512.9 million was spent at the state’s best sportsbooks.

Arizona sports betting apps were responsible for a whopping 99% of the overall take in the Grand Canyon State with retail accounting for just 1% or $4.6 million in bets all month long. Keep an eye on Arizona sportsbook promos throughout the summer as sites try to attract more betting activity.

What about revenues?

Despite a healthy drop in overall handle for the Arizona legal sports betting industry, revenues didn’t suffer nearly as badly at betting sites. $49.2 million in gross revenue (prior to deductions) was reported by the Arizona Department of Gaming, thanks to a 9.2% hold, which is the highest win-rate for Arizona sports betting operators since December.

Gross revenues were down only slightly from March when $53.5 million was reported out of the Arizona scene. Year-over-year however, gross revenues jumped a staggering 68.1%, mostly because the hold rate for Arizona sports betting providers in April 2022 was just 5.9%.

Net revenues for the Grand Canyon State providers were $34.4 million, allowing needy Arizona state and local tax coffers to collect $3.4 million from their sports betting sector.

Where it puts Arizona

Arizona became just the 10th state in America to eclipse the $10 billion total handle mark in terms of legal sports betting. In turn, they became the fastest state to reach the $10 billion plateau, doing so in just 20 months of legalization. 

The other states to reach the milestone are New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, Michigan, and Virginia. Michigan and Virginia have reached that figure in 2023.

Arizona's legal sports betting industry was able to remain in the top-10 states with their April legal sports betting report. $535.7 million was the seventh highest of all participating legal sports betting jurisdictions in the U.S.

FanDuel comes out on top

FanDuel came out on top in the battle of the best sports betting apps, both in terms of handle and revenues. FanDuel accounted for $212.9 million of the overall $535.7 million handle, and came away with $21.9 million in gross revenue, thanks to a 10.3% win rate.

DraftKings finished second with a whopping $64 million behind FanDuel. They took in $148.7 million in bets and reported $13.9 million in gross revenue. BetMGM was a familiar third in betting in the Grand Canyon State legal sports betting market with $72.4 million in bets, while Caesars was fourth with a $49.9 million handle.

Local sportsbook Desert Diamond passed the disappointing Barstool for fifth.