With approximately $300 million in wagers placed in September, Arizona’s sportsbooks had the busiest launch month in the history of regulated sports betting in the United States.
According to figures supplied by the Arizona Department of Gaming, wagers on the state’s online and retail sportsbooks totaled $291.2 million in September. Tennessee set the previous high for a market’s first calendar month with $131.4 million in November 2020.
From September 9 to the end of the month, Arizona collected $32.3 million in gross gaming revenue, the most ever for a state in its first month of legal sports betting.
The state taxed $392,418 in total event wagering proceeds, producing $31,293 in fees, after receiving $31.2 million in promotional credits.
Retail sportsbooks accepted $2.6 million in wagers, accounting for 99 percent of the entire handle in the state. FanDuel, DraftKings, Barstool, BetMGM, Caesars, TwinSpires, Unibet, and WynnBet were among the sportsbooks that made their debuts.
With $97.7 million in wagers, DraftKings was the market leader, followed by FanDuel with $57.7 million.
“Arizona has immense potential as a market,” C. J. Pierre, Lead Analyst for PlayAZ, said, “but it is heartening for the industry to see such a good launch.” Setting a new high in the first month would be considered getting the market off to a good start.
“The next concern is how quickly the state will be able to ramp up and compete against more established marketplaces.” That doesn’t appear to be going to take long.”
