Raising Arizona: state becomes the country's fastest to reach $1bn in betting handle

January 26, 2022
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The record, which has been mirrored in performances across the country, comes after a uniquely busy fall sports season.

Since launching in September of last year, Arizona has distinguished itself among states by becoming the fastest ever to reach a total $1bn handle. It was the just-released numbers from November that brought it to those heights. 

November saw $466.7m in wagers for the Grand Canyon State, which came to a daily average of $15.6m. 

While this number was down 4% from the $486.1m seen in October, it was still enough to send the state over the $1bn bump (total wagers are at the $1.2bn point, to be precise).  

In large part, this was due to a highly active sports calendar: NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS, and NCAA football all converge at this time of year, giving bettors much to wager on. Indeed, autumn is typically the best time of year for betting handle.  

Sportsbooks did well in November: their gross revenue reached $51.4m, up from the $37.5m seen in October. The grand total in gross gaming revenue for Arizona is $121.2, the most of any state over the first three months of betting.  

After taking into consideration $18.4m in promotional credits, there was $31.9m in gross wagering receipts that the state was able to tax. From that $3.2m in privilege fees were collected by the state.  

With the recent launches of SuperBook Sports, Fubo Sportsbook, and SaharaBets (all of which happened after November), there are now 12 sportsbooks operating in the state.  

During November, the top in terms of handle was DraftKings ($148.7), followed by FanDuel ($118m) and BetMGM ($93.2m).   

The vast majority of these bets were made online.  

State-by-State

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