What’s better than one $600 million month of legal sports betting wagers? Well, two, of course.
The Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) reported a handle of nearly $617 million for November 2022, giving the Grand Canyon State its first back-to-back months of $600 million since legalized sports betting arrived in September 2021.
November also produced one of Arizona’s best-ever gross revenue figures at $54.7 million, which wasn’t far off from the $50 million made in the previous year.
“It is exciting to see a second consecutive month of over $600 million wagered on sports by patrons within the state,” ADG director Ted Vogt said. “This milestone highlights Arizona’s strong sports betting market, which has already established itself as a top-ten market nationally.”
The state finished sixth nationally in handle in November and hauled in $3.9 million in taxes. Money wagered was down around $100,000 from October 2022, but revenue was up $14 million from the previous month and the handle rose 32.2% from November 2021.
Mobile sports betting in Arizona continued to dominate the landscape as $611 million wagered in the state came via online sports betting sites. Retail sportsbooks accounted for $4.8 million in November.
FanDuel sets new mobile mark
FanDuel has feasted off of sports bettors recently in Arizona, but it was nothing like November. That month set a mobile sports betting record in the Grand Canyon State with $24.6 million in revenue, surpassing the $23.9 million it profited in May 2021 and rising nearly 20% from October 2022. FanDuel also boasted a whopping 12.5% hold in November on a $196.6 million handle. Nearly all of the profit came from mobile sports betting as retail basically broke even.
DraftKings recorded a distant-second revenue of $11.3 million on a handle that topped $200 million for the third consecutive month, and BetMGM was third in among major operators in retail handle but was the only brick-and-mortar sportsbook to claim a profit of $126,000.
What lies ahead?
While Arizona calculates what December and January bring in terms of sports betting business, the state is gearing up for what could be a huge, record-setting February.
Next weekend, the Phoenix area will be hosting Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. At the same time, the WM Phoenix Open will be going on at TPC Scottsdale, setting up a monster number of visitors to Arizona. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of down-the-road boost that gives legalized sports betting compared to the recent success.
New bill put forward on Thursday
With action spiking in Arizona, a senate bill was proposed on Thursday to restrict gambling-related opportunities for state lawmakers and regulators who helped launch legalized sports betting in the first place.
The bill was filed on the same day that the ADG released its November numbers, and in anticipation of Arizona becoming the first legal sports betting state to host a Super Bowl.
