After more than seven months and more than $2 billion in wagers, it appears the Arizona sports betting marketplace is coming into form.
Between its launch date Sept. 9 and the record-breaking January handle report released by the Arizona Department of Gaming, a clear chasm between the sports betting haves and have-nots in Arizona has emerged.
Here’s a rundown of the sports betting trends seen 200-plus days since Arizona launched.
Arizona Sports Betting Handle Leaders
Four mobile sportsbooks have done more than $300 million in handle since Arizona sports betting launched in September. The below figures are through January, the most recent month reported by the ADG:
| ⭐️ DraftKings Sportsbook | $716.9 million |
| ⭐️ FanDuel Sportsbook | $565.5 million |
| ⭐️ BetMGM Sportsbook | $467.9 million |
| ⭐️ Caesars Sportsbook | $321.1 million |
Top Four Sports Operators Pulling Away from Pack
Since September, a quartet of Arizona betting apps has dominated the state’s marketplace.
Those four — BetMGM Arizona, Caesars Sportsbook Arizona, DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona and FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona — have netted north of $2 billion in wagers, representing more than 90% of the state’s total.
Then there’s the next grouping of operators — WynnBET Arizona, BetRivers Arizona, TwinSpires Arizona, Unibet Arizona, SuperBook Arizona and Fubo Sportsbook Arizona.
That group produced just under $109 million in wagers between September and January, with WynnBET Arizona and TwinSpires Sportsbook being the only two operators from that grouping to have launched during the opening month of sports betting.
Of the secondary group, WynnBET Arizona has emerged as the clear frontrunner, with the Vegas operator raking in just under $83 million in handle since its launch date.
After that comes BetRivers Arizona ($13.131 million), TwinSpires Arizona ($7.485 million), Unibet Arizona ($3.356 million), SuperBook Sports Arizona ($1.186 million), and Fubo Sportsbook Arizona ($487,708.38).
When February handle numbers are release by the ADG, it will be the first report to reflect the market with all 18 licensed operators active. Hard Rock Sportsbook, Bally Bet Arizona and Betway were the last operators to launch, kicking off in late February.
Betfred Sportsbook, Golden Nugget and Desert Diamond Casino began operations in mid February.
Bally Bet currently only operates an Android app in Arizona, while Hard Rock Sportsbook has yet to launch its desktop site (it has both Apple and Android apps).
What Operators Say About Arizona’s Market
Despite the wide gap between the biggest and smallest operators in Arizona, the state is still seen as a frontier of opportunity.
A spokesperson from WynnBET Arizona told BetArizona.com the Vegas stalwart has enjoyed building its footing over the past eight months, pointing to the fact they’ve raked in north of $10 million in wagers each month since launching.
“Since launching in September, WynnBET has enjoyed building relationships with its Arizona players through our sports betting platform,” the company spokesperson’s statement said. “We have provided several memorable experiences for our Arizona patrons, including VIP access to special events at Wynn & Encore Las Vegas, Shaq’s Fun House in Los Angeles during Super Bowl weekend and Wynn Field Club at Allegiant Stadium. We're continuing to ideate ways to delight and entertain our valued Arizona players as we continue with the 2022 sports calendar.”
Jay Kornegay, who serves as SuperBook Sports Arizona’s vice president of race & sportsbook operations, touched on a similar topic — saying the company has been thrilled with the response from Arizona customers in its brief tenure in the state.
SuperBook Sports launched just before Christmas, meaning they’ve only had one full month of operation during the period reported by the ADG.
That’s why Kornegay sees 2022 as a huge year for the operator, both in Arizona and beyond, as it continues to build name recognition in the states in which it operates.
“Arizona is the third state SuperBook has operated in outside of Nevada,” Kornegay said in an email to BetArizona.com. “We launched Arizona on Dec. 14, 2021, and the results have been the most positive out of those three states in the early going.
“One of the key indicators is ticket count. We’re seeing a higher rate in ticket counts in (Arizona) than we’ve seen in other states. I can’t contribute that to anything specific at this time but certainly a positive for us and other operators. The SuperBook will launch in Tennessee in the near future, along with a couple others by the end of this year. We expect these KPI’s to make more sense with a larger sample.”
Fubo Sportsbook’s Deliah Mathieu expressed excitement about the company’s performance in the new year.
Mathieu pointed out Fubo Sportsbook, like SuperBook Sports, launched in December — meaning its collective wagers haven’t hit their stride in the window reported by the ADG.
“We aim to bring more engaging sports and entertainment experiences to fans through the unique integration of our owned-and-operated sportsbook and live TV streaming platform, fuboTV. We expect this unique flywheel model will drive revenue by tapping into a built-in pool of streaming TV subscribers, yielding greater acquisition, retention and advertising revenue, with a limited amount of marketing spend,” Mathieu said in an email to BetArizona.com.
“While our wagering platform is still in its early stages since launching in Iowa and Arizona in Q4 2021, we are already seeing encouraging signs of the flywheel effect of the integration between the sportsbook and video experience — with crossover users (those who are both video subscribers and sportsbook players) on average placing a greater number of bets and having higher retention rates on the sportsbook than sportsbook-only players.
“We have only scratched the surface of integrating our sportsbook and live TV streaming experience and expect to build upon these trends as we continue to roll out new features.”
Requests for comment from TwinSpires Arizona and Rush Street Interactive were not returned by press time. Unibet Arizona declined comment until the release of its quarterly report on April 28.
