DraftKings began football season in Arizona with a bit of a lead over its chief rival FanDuel. However, in October FanDuel managed to close the gap, with both operators accepting $220 million in wagers.
The nearly $441 million in handle comprised nearly 69% of the $641 million in combined handle across the state, according to the latest numbers from the Arizona Department of Gaming. Collectively, Arizona sportsbooks generated $55 million in gross gaming revenue, but with $22.6 million in promotional spending, taxable revenue for October amounted to $32.4 million.
Handle was up slightly from the $610 million in bets during September while gross gaming revenue dipped from $60 million to $55 million.
DraftKings Sportsbook doled out the most credit during the month with $9.2 million in offers. FanDuel was not far behind with $8.1 million. BetMGM ($3.6 million) and Caesars ($1 million) were the only other operators with at least seven figures of promotional spend.
Accordingly, BetMGM ($90.5 million) and Caesars ($59.1 million) were third and fourth in handle for the month. Barstool Sportsbook just edged out local operator Desert Diamond for fifth place, but that will likely change in November when ESPN Bet launched. Looking at other states, ESPN Bet already managed to surpass both Caesars and BetMGM in certain markets thanks, in part, to ample promotional spending.
Desert Diamond, on the other hand, continues to perform strongly despite less than $400,000 in promotional credit for the month.
Despite switching to the Kambi platform at the start of football season, Bally Bet continued to struggle in Arizona. The $350,000 in handle only surpassed the near-dormant Churchill Downs app. However, it doesn’t appear that Bally Bet is investing money in acquisition in the state even with a new product. The app gave out a mere $3,414 in promotional credit over the month.
