Arizona sportsbooks surge to record revenue haul in May
Operators generate $55.2m in GGR despite slowdown in overall betting activity
Arizona sportsbooks enjoyed a banner month in May, generating $55.2m in gross gaming revenue (GGR) from wagering activity, according to the latest report from the Arizona Department of Gaming.
The figure represented a high-water mark for the Grand Canyon State since it launched online sports betting in September 2021, eclipsing the previous record of $50.2m set last November while rising 88.5% month-over-month (MoM) from April’s total of $29.2m.
Operators were able to achieve the record GGR haul despite a 9.5% MoM drop in handle from $512.8 in April to $461.5m in May.
That slowdown was more than offset by an aggregate hold percentage of just under 12%, which was more than double April’s 5.7% win rate and bested the previous record of 10.9% set last September.
For context, the average industry hold rate is around 7%.
After the deduction of promotional credits and free bets – which amounted to $13.8m in May – Arizona’s 18 online operators accounted for $41.4m in adjusted revenue. That resulted in a record $4.1m in tax payments back to the state.
On the operator side, FanDuel led the way as it does in many of the biggest US online markets, processing $148.7m in wagers while totaling nearly $24m in GGR.
DraftKings wasn’t far behind, amassing $141.1m in mobile wagers and $14.7m in revenue. BetMGM rounded out the top three at $84.2m and $10.2m, respectively.
Arizona has rapidly become one of the bigger markets in the legalized US online space, recently passing over $4bn in lifetime handle.
For the month of May, Arizona ranked sixth among US states in handle, sitting between a pair of far more established markets in Pennsylvania and Colorado.