Arizona's Second Best Sports Betting Month Adds to Best Month Ever for the U.S. Scene

The details around Arizona's legal sports betting financials from October 2023.
James Bisson
James Bisson

Last updated: December 21, 2023 2:05 PM EST • 2 min read

The Arizona Department of Gaming report on sports betting activity is always eagerly anticipated as the last jurisdiction to report on a given sports betting month. October's findings were extra interesting as Arizona's figures would add to what had already been a record-setting month for the entirety of the U.S. legal sports betting scene, including our best sports betting apps.

While not record-setting, Arizona's sports betting figures for October came as the second-best month that Arizona sports betting apps and the state's retail providers have had in their 26 months of operation.

It was a familiar battle for the most popular Arizona sports betting site during October, with DraftKings Arizona narrowly beating out FanDuel for the crown.

$648.2 million Arizona handle in October

Arizona sports betting providers took in $648.2 million in October, the second-best handle month for the state's providers ever. March 2022's $691 million in monthly sports bets is the only month that topped October 2023.

The $648.2 million is a year-over-year improvement of 5.1% from nearly $618.6 million in October 2022 and is almost $38 million better than the sports betting total from September.

Year-to-date, $5.17 billion has been spent with Arizona's best sportsbooks as residents continue to utilize Arizona sportsbook promos. That's a 14.3% increase from the same 10-month period last year.

With October's figures added in, Arizona's lifetime handle since launching in September 2021 almost hit the $13 billion mark. It will have hit that milestone sometime in early November.

$56.9 million in gross revenue

Arizona sportsbooks also had their second-best month ever in terms of revenues. In October, $56.9 million in gross revenue was reported for Grand Canyon State providers, which ranks behind only the $60.1 million in GGR reported in September.

The figure is almost $7.5 million better than the totals from October 2022.

Year-to-date, Arizona sportsbooks have reported $447.4 million in gross gaming revenues. That figure represents a 14.6% year-over-year increase from the same 10-month period last year.

Arizona state and local tax coffers benefitted to the tune of $3.3 million in October off of $33 million in adjusted gross revenue. It takes the year-to-date tax contribution total to $27.9 million, a $3.3 million improvement from the first 10 months of 2022

Written By:
James Bisson
James Bisson is the Editor-in-Chief of Sportsbook Review. He has been a writer, reporter and editor for more than 20 years, including a nine-year stint with The Canadian Press and more than five years at theScore. He has covered dozens of marquee events including the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2006 Stanley Cup final and Wrestlemania 23, and his work has appeared in more than 200 publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, Yahoo! Sports, the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. His book, “100 Greatest Canadian Sports Moments”, was a hardcover best-seller in Canada in 2008 and earned him appearances on CBC Radio and Canada AM. He has written more than 50 sportsbook reviews, more than 200 industry news articles and dozens of other sportsbook-related content articles. A graduate of the broadcast journalism program at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), James has been an avid bettor since the early 2000s, and cites bet365 as his favorite sports betting site due to its superior functionality and quick payouts. His favorite piece of sports betting advice: "Stay in your lane. You're much more likely to have success betting sports you know, and focusing on finding angles and edges there."