After March’s highs come April's lows in the sports betting space, and Arizona was no exception. But operators came out of it in a nice position.
The Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) reported that the state’s legal sports betting market accepted $535.7 million in bets, a 16.8% monthly drop.
FanDuel and DraftKings maintained their dominance in the Grand Canyon State among online betting sites with a combined handle of $363.4 million, which is 67.8% of the entire market. That doesn’t mean they were invulnerable to April’s betting contraction, but they did better than the statewide drop.
FanDuel announced $214.7 million in bets, a 15.7% decline. DraftKings did slightly better with a 12% decrease, hitting $148.6 million.
The retail side took more of a hit. FanDuel’s physical sportsbooks led the competition with $1.8 million, but compared to March, they saw 21.7% fewer bets. The retail market space did better as a whole than the online side, seeing a 6.1% monthly fall.
Revenue stays the course
Sportsbooks and state coffers did not worry too much about the drastic change in handle. That is thanks to some poor luck for Arizonans.
Operators improved their hold to 8.9%, compared to 8.3% in March. And in the end, after promotional deductions, sportsbooks reported an adjusted gross revenue of $34.3 million. And while slightly under March’s $37.1 million, it was still well above February’s $15.8 million. From that, the state took $3.4 million.
In another sign of good news for the Arizona sports betting market, despite the massive drop in handle more sportsbooks reported a profit. Of the state’s 17 operators, six made money in February, 12 made money in March, and now 14 were in the green in April.
And compared to 2022, April was still a strong month. Year-over-year handle rose 4.4%, revenue rose 107.8%, and the tax bill jumped 112.5%.
