The Arizona Department of Gaming reported that the state’s sportsbooks saw handle of $648.2 million in October, the state’s second-highest total in 26 months of legal wagering as it closed the book on a historic month of betting in the United States.
Arizona sports betting handle was up 5.1% compared to the previous October while moving above $5 billion for the calendar year. The October handle trails only the $691 million worth of wagers accepted in March 2022. Arizona is closing in on $13 billion in all-time handle since launching in September 2021.
Operators claimed $56.9 million in gross revenue before the federal excise tax and deductions were counted, also ranking second in the Grand Canyon State’s all-time annals behind the $60.1 million totaled the previous month. The $447.4 million in gross revenue through the first 10 months of the year is up 14.6% compared to last year, running slightly ahead of the 14.3% increase in handle to $5.17 billion.
The state collected $3.3 million in taxes on $33 million in adjusted gross revenue, lifting the year-to-date total to $27.9 million. That is $3.3 million ahead of last year’s pace.
Arizona’s handle was the final addition to the national ledger in which a whopping $12.8 billion was wagered in the month of October, bringing New York becoming the first state to sur $2 billion in single-month handle.
The money wagered in the 2023 calendar year crossed $100 billion earlier in the week, and Arizona’s October report moved the all-time handle within $7.6 billion of the $300 billion mark since the first wagers were accepted outside Nevada in June 2018.
Running 2023 YTD Top 10 #SportsBetting handle (Nov. in CAPS)
1 NEW YORK $17.14B
2 NEW JERSEY $10.69B
3 Illinois $8.93B
4 PENN. $6.76B
5 Nevada ~$6.5B
6 Ohio $5.98B
7 Arizona $5.17B
8 Virginia $4.32B
9 MASS. $4.31B
10 MICHIGAN ~$4.2B#sportsbettingtwitter #gamblingtwitter— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) December 20, 2023
DraftKings holds off FanDuel 1f51w
mobile betting apps are available, but few states have races as tight as Arizona. DraftKings took the top spot for both handle and gross revenue for the first time since December 2021.
DraftKings’ $220.6 million in accepted wagers was its second-best all-time in Arizona and helped it edge out FanDuel by $320,257. The gap was larger in gross revenue as DraftKings posted a hold of 10.2% to set a record in that category as well at $22.5 million. FanDuel had a three-month run of double-digit holds snapped, landing at 9.2% while winning $20.2 million.
FanDuel, however, did have a lighter spend on promotions and bonuses of $8.1 million, $1.1 million less than DraftKings. That resulted in a narrowing of the gap in adjusted revenue, with DraftKings totaling $12.5 million in taxable winnings and FanDuel close behind at $11.6 million.
BetMGM was a comfortable third in both categories, posting a year-best $90.4 million handle and claiming  $9.2 million in gross winnings. BetMGM also extended its streak of double-digit holds to four months after crafting a 10.1% mark for October — slightly off its 10.2% win rate for 2023 as a whole. It provided $3.6 million in promotional credits, lifting its outlay for the year to $34 million.
Caesars came within $100,000 of a year-best handle at $59.1 million, but a 5.1% hold meant it came away with just under $3 million in revenue. The October hold was nearly three percentage points lower compared to September.
Barstool Sportsbook’s swan song in its final full month of being PENN Entertainment’s mobile app saw it fend off local outfit Desert Diamond to round out the top five in handle at $13.9 million. Both operators had holds of 4.5%, but Barstool finished just ahead in revenue as well with $630,000 compared to Desert Diamond’s $609,000. PENN Entertainment had $220,000 in promotional spend, a figure expected to be exponentially higher in November reflecting ESPN BET’s mid-month launch.
BetRivers took its second loss in three months as bettors came out $107,120 ahead on $6.5 million worth of wagers. It was BetRivers’ biggest monthly loss in Arizona, with the previous worst being $69,698 last December.
That was not the only operator to finish in the red for October, as WynnBET took its first monthly loss in Arizona, as the public made $71,209 above its $1.2 million-plus in bets placed, and TwinSpires paid out $5,073 on top of $77,099 handle for its second straight losing month.
DraftKings goes retail too 3f3x41
It was also a notable October for DraftKings on the retail side as it began offering in-person wagering at the TPC Scottsdale Golf Course on Oct. 21. DK has 13,000 square feet of betting space at TPC Scottsdale, home to one of the PGA Tour’s most popular events in the WM Phoenix Open.
Despite the sportsbook being open for less than two weeks, DraftKings generated $760,000 handle and posted a healthy 27.7% hold to claim $210,000 in revenue.
