The Arizona Department of Gaming has finally announced the sports betting totals from the first two months of the industry. September 9 was the official launch date of Arizona sports betting, and this industry got off to a much bigger start than expected.
The total sports betting handle for September was $291.2 million, and that number grew all the way up to $486.1 million in October. Arizona shattered the record set by Tennessee for the most sports betting handle in the first month that the industry was legal.
There are currently 11 online sports betting options in Arizona, and a majority of those were able to
launch on September 9. Another seven operators have already been approved for a license, but it’s unsure when they will launch.
Arizona planned to launch sports betting on September 9 for a reason, as this was the opening day of the NFL season. The Arizona Cardinals stormed off to a great start in the first two months, and that helped bring bettors to the sportsbooks as well.
Arizona Not Getting Much Revenue
Even though sportsbooks in Arizona have enjoyed plenty of success, the massive start didn’t really benefit the state. Arizona sports betting law allows operators to deduct promotions when reporting revenue, and that had a huge impact on the total numbers.
October saw right around $1 million in tax revenue paid out to the state, but that was actually a massive increase from what took place in September. The amount of promotional money will eventually drop in Arizona, but the state might need to revisit the current law.
DraftKings On Top of Market
It took some of the top operators time before they were able to get things figured out, but that wasn’t
the case with DraftKings Sportsbook. DraftKings led in both handle and revenue in each of the first two months, and it actually widened the gap from September to October.
The total online sports betting handle for DraftKings in October was $151.4 million. FanDuel Sportsbook was next on the list with $115.9 million, and BetMGM came in third at $92.1 million.
Caesars came in with a total sports betting handle of nearly $70 million for October, and there was a big drop off after that.
Already a Top 10 Market
The massive sports betting handle for the month of October in Arizona has already put the state in some exclusive company. Most industry experts predicted that Arizona would move into the top ten at some point, but it already held that position after just two months.
The $486.1 million total sports betting handle for October landed Arizona in seventh place out of all of the U.S. sports betting markets. Arizona also trailed Colorado by just five million dollars, and that gap can get made up in a hurry.
New Jersey was once again leading the way for October sports betting handle as that total was $1.3 billion.
