The Arizona Department of Gaming, the organization in charge of regulating the sports betting and gambling industry in the American state, has announced that December 2023 has brought record-breaking sports betting revenue.
The gross revenue for the sports betting industry in Arizona amounted to 66.1 million dollars in December 2023, a figure which represents an increase of 22.1 percent over the 54.4 million that were generated in the same month of 2022. Moreover, the revenue recorded in December 2023 was up 62.4 percent compared to the amount generated in November 2023.
The vast majority of that sum came from online sports betting, 65.2 million dollars, while retail sportsbooks attracted just 625,986 dollars in revenue during the month of December 2023. Limited event wagering operators managed to generate revenue of 240,604 dollars during the month.
Slight Decrease in Total Wagers
Despite the increased revenue, the total betting handle recorded a decrease compared to November 2023, when a new record was set by the Arizona sports betting industry. The total wagers in December 2023 amounted to 693.3 million dollars, over 20 million dollars behind the record set in November 2023, but still 21.1 percent higher compared to December 2022.
The online part of the business was again responsible for most of the action, attracting bets worth 685.1 million dollars in total, while retail sportsbooks got 6.4 million and limited event wagering operators just 1.8 million dollars. The month of December also recorded a total of 17.8 million dollars in free bets and promotional credits awarded to players in Arizona, with almost the entire amount coming from online sports betting operators.
This led to an adjusted gross sports betting revenue for December 2023 of 48.3 million dollars, another record for the Arizona sports betting industry. That figure is 30.3 higher than what was recorded in December 2022 and a whopping 139.4 percent higher than November 2023.
When it comes to tax, the Arizona sports betting industry contributed 4.8 million dollars in December 2023: 4.7 million dollars from online operators, 49,703 dollars from retail sportsbooks and 19,248 dollars from limited event wagering operators.
FanDuel Leading the Race
The most successful online sports betting operator in the state remains FanDuel, which posted adjusted revenue of 23.7 million dollars in December 2023 and total wagers amounting to 236.3 million dollars.
That is quite far ahead DraftKings and Crown Gaming in second place, which generated 13.8 million dollars in adjusted revenue and 228.5 million in total wagers. BetMGM ranked third in December 2023 with adjusted revenue of 6.1 million dollars and a total handle of 82.7 million dollars.
The retail side of the business features just two operators in Arizona, DraftKings and Crown Gaming took top spot with 361,037 dollars in adjusted revenue while FanDuel recorded adjusted revenue of 260,248 dollars.
Source: “Arizona Department of Gaming Releases December Sports Betting Figures“. Arizona Department of Gaming. February 26, 2024.