Arizona is a huge sports betting state in the U.S. and its low tax rate has brought tons of operators, but 2023 has shown that there is a huge disparity between the sportsbooks.
Arizona’s Department of Gaming announced that the Valentine State accepted $693.3 million in December, down slightly from the $713.5 million the month before.
But the sportsbooks saw their revenue increase dramatically as their hold percentage improved to 9.5%. On top of that, there were fewer free bets offered compared to November ($20.5 million to $17.7 million). In the end, the operators made $48.3 million in adjusted revenue, and paid $4.8 million in taxes, both were a 138% monthly jump.
2023 in a nutshell
Now that the year is over, Arizona sports betting saw a massive $6.57 billion in wagers, a 9% year-over-year improvement.
December was the second-best month of the year in action, losing only to November, while July’s $323.2 saw the lowest handle in 2023.
FanDuel narrowly beats DraftKings for top dog
Despite giving Arizonans 17 mobile options and 14 retail locations, the people keep going to FanDuel and DraftKings, who are the top two operators in both categories.
DraftKings narrowed the gap, but its $228.4 million in bets was just below FanDuel’s $236.2 million. No other sportsbook reported more than $100 million. FanDuel ended up with higher revenue thanks to fewer free bets, making $23.7 million versus DraftKings’ $13.8 million.
BetMGM was third in handle with $82.6 million and then Caesars at $56.7 million. ESPN BET rounded out the top five with $52.9 million. No other operator had more than $8 million in action.
On the retail side, things were in reverse, DraftKings’ $2.7 million beat out FanDuel’s $2.1 million and made more money as FanDuel offered more promos.
