We won’t officially know the handle from sports betting in Arizona for a few more weeks, though signs point toward a historic figure.
Further indication of that belief came Friday morning from DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona, which said it acquired 100,000 paid customers in the Grand Canyon state 17 days after launching. That’s 10 times faster than their next best market (New Jersey).
“Upon launching DK Sportsbook in Arizona, it took just 17 days to acquire 100,000 first time paid customers, compared to 170 days in NJ, 312 days for PA [Pennsylvania], and 344 days for IN [Indiana],” the company’s tweet said.
The Arizona Department of Gaming said in October it would release figures from the opening month of sports betting in the state Nov. 29. Arizona sports betting apps went online Sept. 9, just in time for residents to take part in Arizona NFL betting on the season’s first game.
In late October, the Department of Gaming announced daily fantasy sports operators collected $175,000 in entry fees during their four days of operation in August.
What Other Operators Are Saying About Arizona
Another indicator of what November’s numbers release could look like came during Caesars Sportsbook’s third quarter earnings call this week, when Brian Agnew, senior vice president of finance, treasury, and investor relations said the company’s national market share in the iGaming industry swelled thanks in large part to early buy in from customers in Arizona.
“What we anticipated was in states where we offered our Liberty technology, where we were starting on equal footing, and where we had an existing strong database, that those would be our most effective markets,” Agnew said during the company’s earnings call. “And that describes Arizona to a T, which launched during the quarter, has not published results yet, but we think that the results will show us in excess of the handle numbers.”
Agnew said Arizona appears set to be Caesars Sportsbook’s third strongest state, behind Iowa and Nevada, thanks to its incumbent advantages.
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He used Arizona as a measuring stick for states where the company plans to launch down the road, such as Maryland and Louisiana.
“The performance in Arizona is also encouraging as we look to states like Louisiana, which just launched retail on Sunday and will launch mobile in the near future. Maryland will come online soon as well,” Agnew said. “These are states where we are in a similar position to where we were in Arizona, so we'd expect to perform well.”
Agnew concluded his comments by noting Caesars Sportsbook raked in $1.3 billion in handle during October alone, with states like Arizona propelling the company forward.
“We think we're continuing to generate momentum,” Agnew said.
BetMGM Sees Strong September in Arizona and Beyond
Another operator that saw strong results from the iGaming industry during September was BetMGM Arizona, which gobbled up 23% of the industry’s market share, according to Cathy Park, the company’s executive director of investor relations.
During the company’s third quarter earnings call, Park said the operator raked in $227 million in net revenues during the quarter, representing 17% growth from the previous quarter.
“But next year, in Arizona, at (State Farm Stadium), we're going to have a presence. We are literally opening as we speak in that stadium a betting shop,” Park said. “And so we're going to be in other places, and we have an opportunity finally with Illinois freeing up to get into Illinois come, hopefully, March or April of next year.”
MGM Chief Executive Officer and President Bill Hornbuckle went a step farther, describing the Grand Canyon State as a huge boost to the company’s standing.
Hornbuckle declined to declare a specific figure for the company’s BetMGM profile, but said the operation is on solid footing, thanks in large part to its strong start in Arizona.
“Arizona is off to a massive start for us,” Hornbuckle said.
