Key Points
- AZ sports betting handle up 11.3% compared to 2022
- Increased revenues for Arizona’s online sportsbooks
- Slight dip in bets due to summer slowdown
Sports betting in Arizona is more popular than ever before. Online sportsbooks in the Grand Canyon State enjoyed a 11.3% rise in the number of bets taken in July 2023 compared to the year before. Plus there was an accompanying rise in the revenues from sports betting. While there was the usual dip in numbers compared to the spring months, it paints the picture of yet another state that has successfully introduced mobile sports betting.
Increasing handle and revenues for Arizona’s sportsbooks
Sports fans bet 11.3% more in July 2023 compared to the previous year. The month saw an overall $323.2 million in sports betting handle in the Grand Canyon State which is far ahead of the $290.5 million that was spent in sports bets in July 2022.
However, the sports betting handle actually fell for the fourth consecutive month in Arizona. This is because there was 17.8% less spent on sports bets compared to the $393.2 million in June’s sports betting handle.
Like most other states, the bulk of Arizona’s sports betting handle comes from its online sportsbooks. Only $2.4 million was spent on sports bets at retail sportsbooks within the Grand Canyon State, compared to the $320.2 million spent online.
What’s truly impressive is that Arizona’s sportsbook enjoyed some serious improvements in their sports betting revenues. There was $26.6 million gained in adjusted revenue for the month, which is up 78.7% compared to the $15 million recorded a year ago, and 63.4% higher than the $16.4 reported in June 2023.
All of this brought in a total of $2.7 million in sports betting taxes for the Arizona state coffers. Online sportsbooks in Arizona are taxed at a rate of 10% compared to just 8% for the state’s physical sportsbooks.
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A positive trend for sports betting in Arizona
Legal sports betting was launched in Arizona in September 2021. This was a huge month for sports fans in the Grand Canyon State and they spent a staggering $291.2 million in sports bets in the first full month of operation.
The biggest month for sports betting in Arizona came in March 2022. This saw a sports betting handle of $691 million that generated revenues of $38.9 for the state’s sportsbooks and produced $1.87 million in sports betting taxes.
There has been a total of $11.3 billion spent on sports bets in Arizona that have brought in $942.7 million in revenues for the licensed sportsbooks within the state. All of which shows that sports betting in the Grand Canyon State has been a huge success.
Increasing competition among Arizona’s sportsbooks
There are currently 17 online sportsbooks currently active within the Grand Canyon State. These include all of the major sports betting brands such as DraftKings, Caesars,
FanDuel, BetMGM and BetRivers, alongside some more small-scale operators such as SuperBook and SaharaBets.
Sports betting in the state is regulated by the Arizona Department of Gaming who has the power to issue licences to anywhere up to 20 online sportsbooks. Interestingly, it looks like
Bet365
could be the next sportsbook to come to the Grand Canyon State. This is because the state regulators have just approved the UK-based brand to partner up with the Ak-Chin Indian Community to launch its sports betting platform. The Bet365 Arizona platform is expected to go live in the next few weeks.
In another recent development, it looks like Barstool Sportsbook will be exiting the Grand Canyon State. The brand has recently been dropped by its parent company – Penn Entertainment – and expectations are that the new brand, ESPN Bet, will be ready to launch in Arizona at some point before the end of the year.
While these are positive moves for sports betting fans in Arizona, it does point to the fact that the mobile betting scene in the state is getting increasingly congested. WynnBET recently closed down its operations in Arizona and players won’t be able to access their account from October 2023.
Conclusion – Reasons to be optimistic for betting in AZ
Arizona is yet another state that has found mobile sports betting to be a major success. There has been a general trend for sports betting revenues and the number of bets made to increase on a year on year basis and this is something once again highlighted in the figures from July 2023.
Such is the vibrancy of Arizona’s betting scene that operators like Bet365 and ESPN Bet are getting ready to join in the action. All of this should help sports fans in Arizona enjoy even more betting options.
