Arizona Sports Betting Handle Hits a Record and Betfred Fully Launches in the State

Arizona sports betting has reached a record in betting figures, as was recently announced. And, now Betfred has announced it will make a full launch into the AZ sports betting market. In January, Betfred did a soft launch, and now the full launch is here.

The COO of Betfred Sports, Bryan Bennett, has indicated the company’s excitement to launch their Betfred Sports betting apps in the state. 

The record that was set, as was announced by the Arizona Department of Gaming, was for December’s $499.2 million in bets. This record handle from Arizona is up almost 7% from the $466.7 million reported in November. It is also an increase of 2.7% from the previous record holder, October’s $486.1 million.

The Director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, Ted Vogt, indicated his excitement to see how the Arizona sports betting market will continue to grow in the future. Even with the record handle in Arizona, the sportsbooks in Arizona are still rolling out promotional offers, meaning the taxable revenue taken in is still relatively low since promotional offer budgets are taken out of sportsbook profits.

Arizona sportsbook operators held 7.7%, which totaled $38.6 million in revenue. But, the operators were able to deduct $21.3 million in promotional credits, which brings it to an adjusted revenue of $17.3 million. In December, Arizona was able to collect $1.7 million in taxes. Back in November, the sportsbook operators held 11% for a record sports betting revenue of $51.4 million. 

Most sports bettors in Arizona do so online. 99% ($494.5 million) of the total handle comes from mobile sportsbook bets. In December, there were eleven live online sportsbooks in the state.

DraftKings was able to lead the pack in the state with 29.5% of the mobile market, totaling $146 million in sports betting handle. FanDuel came in second with almost 26% of the market, or $128.5 million in sports betting handle. BetMGM came in third with $103.8 million in bets.

There were also two retail sportsbooks that were open at the time, FanDuel at Footprint Center and Caesars Sportsbook at Chase Field, which took in $2.6 million in handle and $2.1 million in handle respectively.

At the We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort in Fort McDowell in December, Betfred was able to launch kiosks. The We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort is owned by the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, which was given a license when the Arizona Department of Gaming gave out the first Arizona sports betting licenses in August 2021.

Right now, in the WKP Sports & Entertainment Sports Bar, there is a temporary betting station. Sometime this summer, at the resort, a permanent retail sportsbook will go live.

Arizona is the sixth state for Betfred to launch in. This is in addition to Colorado, Iowa, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, as well as Washington. Back in January, SaharaBets from the Arizona Coyotes launched, and Hard Rock Digital announced a partnership deal with the Navajo Nation.

Back in February, the Arizona Department of Gaming gave out the remaining of the outstanding licenses that were awarded months before in August of 2021. These approved sportsbooks include Betway, Bally Bet, Desert Diamond Digital, and Golden Nugget.

According to a spokesperson from the Arizona Department of Gaming, all eighteen licensed sportsbooks have been approved and are operational. The Arizona Department of Gaming also gave out 10 limited event wagering operator licenses back in February. This allows horse racing tracks and off-track betting facilities to open retail sportsbooks.

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert.