Arizona sportsbooks see 13.5% handle increase over last June; 20% decrease against May

Bettors in Arizona wagered $454m (£345.8m/€410.5m) in June, the latest month of revenue reporting available, according to a Friday (30 August) Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) press release.

That number beat the same month in 2023 by $60.8m or 13.5%. But it was down 20% from $568.4m in May.

Gross gaming revenue for Arizona sportsbooks before promotional deductions was $46.2m. Operators wrote off $14.6m, making adjusted gross revenue, which is taxable, $31.6m. Operators paid the state $3.16m in tax revenue. Digital wagering operators are taxed at 10% and brick-and-mortar sportsbooks are taxed at 8%.

Digital platforms accounted for $449.7m in handle and $31.3 in AGR. The state has three retail sportsbooks that it can tax, and they collectively took $4.4m in bets. The rest of Arizona’s brick-and-mortar locations are in Indian Country, and bets are not taxed by the state.

There was a $5,210.70 “annual audit adjustment” noted on the report.

DK has highest handle; FD leads in AGR
Among the 19 digital operators listed on the report, DraftKings was the leader in handle, taking $154m in bets. FanDuel was second with $149m. The next closest was BetMGM, which took $51.7m in bets. For retail, FanDuel, which has a downtown sportsbook in the Footprint Centre, led with $1.7m in bets while DraftKings took $1.6m at its TPC Scottsdale location.

FanDuel, however, was first in terms of AGR at $13.8m, with DraftKings second at $10.6m. FanDuel wrote off $5.1m in promotional deductions while DraftKings wrote off close to $4m. Arizona sportsbooks can write off promotional play on a sliding scale that starts at 20% as of 15 April 2021. Now in the third year of live wagering, sportsbooks can write off up to 15% of promotional play. In years four and five, that number drops to 10%, and beginning in the sixth year, promotional play will not be deductible.

Among the Arizona sportsbooks listed on the report are Plannatech, Sporttrade and Unibet. Sporttrade and Plannatech were awarded event wagering licences on 2 August 2024. Sporttrade will be tethered to the Quechan Indian tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian reservation. That tribe was previously partnered with Unibet, which is unwinding operations in the state. According to the report, Unibet took $597.12 in bets in June.

Sporttrade is currently live in Iowa, Colorado and New Jersey.

UK-based Plannatech will partner with the San Carlos Apache Tribal Gaming Enterprise. That tribe formerly partnered with WynnBet, which earlier this year began unwinding its digital sports betting platform nationwide.