Arizona sports betting operators enjoyed a flurry of betting activity in January as the state built up to hosting the Super Bowl, taking $591.2m in wagers.
Data from the Arizona Department of Gaming revealed that bettors in the Grand Canyon state wagered $585.4m on mobile/online channels and $4.7m with the three retail operators.
On the retail side, FanDuel took $2.5m in bets, with BetMGM taking $1.4m and Caesars taking $920k in bets. This made a total AGR of $384,400. With an 8% tax rate on retail bets, operators paid $30,752 in tax to open 2023.
FanDuel steals DraftKings crown in Arizona
Typically, throughout the Arizona sports betting market, DraftKings has been the market leader, just edging out its fierce rival FanDuel.
However, in January, the Flutter-owned brand stole DraftKings’ thunder, taking $195.4m in handle during January, compared to DraftKings’ $171.4m.
Here are some of the other runners and riders in the Arizona online sports betting market:
- BetMGM: $89.8m
- Caesars Sportsbook: $59.2m
- Barstool Sportsbook: $20.4m
- Desert Diamond: $20.0m
Of note, Bally’s took just $103k in bets during the month and ultimately didn’t take any revenue as it paid out $104k in winnings.
Promo Credit still a factor
Arizona’s operators are still utilizing promo credit and free bets, spending $17.2m on such credit during January. FanDuel spent $5.7m on credit, whilst DraftKings spent almost $5m.
Only three operators – Bally’s, Golden Nugget, and Unibet – didn’t spend anything on promo credit, indicating that operators are still willing to use favorable regulations to attract new players, despite the market being open for around 18 months.
Despite the reliance on promo credit, this does mark a significant decrease in the promo credit figures from January 2022, when operators spent nearly $21m on offering free bets and credit to their players.
Online revenue and tax payments
As well as handling the most, FanDuel also made the most money in Arizona, taking $14.8m in revenue from its operations.
Pertinently, DraftKings didn’t make it into the top two for revenue, as BetMGM made $5.5m in revenue; the Boston-based company came in third spot for revenue with just $3.5m revenue from $171m in bets.
Here are some of the other revenue figures:
Desert Diamond: $1.8m
Caesars: $1.5m
Barstool: $982k
WynnBet: $352k
With a 10% tax rate on AGR implemented in Arizona, operators paid out $2.8m to the state for its operations in January, up from $1.9m in January 2022.
