Arizona Sports Betting Handle Reaches $610 Million in September 2023

Sports betting handle in Arizona amounted to more than $610 million in September 2023, according to a November 15 news release (pdf) from the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG). The figure representing a 13.5 percent increase when compared to the same period of 2022 reportedly generated $3.24 million in tax revenues for the Grand Canyon State in the same month.

$610 Million Handle:

In September 2023, Arizona bettors placed more than $610 million on sports, with around $605 million or 99% wagered with online operators. The remaining $5 million of retail wagers were placed with physical casinos to represent only a 1% of the total market handle in the given month. The difference is due to the fact that regulated sports bets were exclusively placed through mobile operators from the 2021 market launch to early 2023 when the casinos opened retail sports betting facilities to repeatedly see a much lower handle than the fully operative online market.

$32.5 Million in Revenues:

The Arizona sports wagering market handle achieved in September 2023 also represents a 70.2% higher level than the one reached in August 2023, as well as a 13.5 % increase on the year-on-year basis. The September 7 start of the NFL season is considered a major driver of the sports betting activity in the state. Such an activity brought a total of around $32.5 million in revenues for the sports books, as well as $3.24 million in tax revenues for the state.

DraftKings and FanDuel Rule the Market:

As for the Arizona sports books, DraftKings took the largest part of the cake with the handle of more than $218 million or a 35.7 % stake in the total amount wagered in Arizona in September. FanDuel followed with the figure exceeding $179 million to get a 29.3% market share. BetMGM reached the handle of almost $90 million or around 15%, Caesars hit $56 million or around 9% , and Desert Diamond ended the month with the $15 million handle to stand for around 2.5 %. All other operators collectively handled around 8.5% of total bets placed during the month.

September 2023 handle represents the fifth largest handle through 25 months of the ADG reporting. As indicated above, the $610 million handle resulted in a total of $32.5 million in revenues for the sports wagering operators, 52% above the August 2023 revenue level and only 6% lower than September 2022. As sports books pay a 10% tax on the adjusted revenues, the state simultaneously generated around $3.24 million in tax revenues.

$12.3 Billion Total Handle:

Finally, this monthly handle figure represents the sixth single-month handle exceeding $600 million in Arizona to aggregate the state’s 25-month total handle to almost $12.3 billion. Based on these figures, one may assume that the sports wagering operations in Arizona might have generated around $656 millions in adjusted revenues over the 25 reported months to potentially bring around $65.5 million in tax revenues for the Grand Canyon State over the same period.