The latest Arizona betting revenue numbers are out from the Arizona Department of Gaming for April and the state has plenty to celebrate. The state accepted $513 million in wagers. The state is one of six that generated at least half a billion in handle for the month. It is a dip from the $619 million bet in March, but that is expected given the conclusion of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
DraftKings edges out FanDuel in the handle battle
Unlike other states, like New York, where FanDuel is running away with market share, Arizona is still a tight race for dominance. Here’s a look at the top four operators in terms of AZ betting handle:
- DraftKings: $155,945,786
- FanDuel: $149,833,842
- BetMGM: $100,607,702
- Caesars: $62,308,719
With these four operators generating over 91% of the betting action, there is a steep drop off after four. Barstool Sportsbook ranks fifth, but generated just $16.8 million in April bets.
Top AZ sportsbook operators still spending on free bets and promos
These four books are also the online betting apps in Arizona awarding the most free bets and promotional credits. Here is a breakdown of how much each spent:
BetMGM: $5,067,417
FanDuel: $3,868,798
DraftKings: $1,508,110
Caesars: $1,048,787
No other operator spent more than $300,000 on promos, while the top four still have their foot on the gas pedal since launch in the state last September. Given that Arizona is a state with liberal tax deductions for these promos, the continued activity is expected. In other states with similar tax structures, the big operators took the same aggressive approach to obtain market share.
FanDuel did win the April revenue battle
One area where FanDuel did stick out like a sore thumb is betting revenue. With $16.2 million in revenue on almost $150 million in bets, the sportsbook app held an impressive 10.8%. DraftKings, meanwhile, held less than 1% with $1.5 million in revenue. BetMGM also did well, with $7.7 million in Arizona betting revenue and 7.7% hold.
Other smaller operators like Hard Rock and Fubo exceeded 10% hold as well, just for significantly smaller sums of money. These four operators actually posted losses on the month before free bet deductions:
BallyBet
Desert Diamond Mobile
Golden Nugget
Sahara Bets
Thanks to free bet deductions, only six of the 18 operators reported any taxable revenue at all. The operators reported a combined $12.7 million in deductions against $29.2 million in gross revenue. Barstool and BetRivers, along with the four most popular sportsbooks, paid $1.6 million in taxes for online wagering activity.
