The Arizona Department of Gaming reported a record $55.2 million in gross revenue for sports wagering in September, completing a historic nationwide rout by operators in which 24 of 27 states recorded holds of 10% or higher.
Arizona’s gross revenue narrowly eclipsed the previous state record set in May by a margin of $15,551. The handle of $538 million was the the third-highest in 13 months of wagering, and Arizona cleared $4 billion worth of wagers for the 2022 calendar year.
The start of the NFL season prompted operators to be aggressive with promotional offers, as total deductions amounted to $24.5 million — the highest total of the year and most since the $26 million last October in the state’s second month of operations. FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM comprised the bulk of the offers, as the trio combined to lavish more than $20 million in credits.
Hence, the Grand Canyon State was able to levy taxes on $30.7 million of operator revenue, resulting in $3.1 million worth of tax receipts. The adjusted revenue represented 55.7% of the gross revenue, the first time in three months it was less than 65%.
FanDuel leads charge among mobile operators
September #SportsBetting numbers for #Arizona via AZDoG, a 🧵. Han/GGR/WR by mobile operator (2/6)@DKSportsbook $215.63M/$13.16M/6.1%@FDSportsbook $144.82M/$19.3M/13.33%@BSSportsbook $14.65M/$1.54M/10.53%
5/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) December 1, 2022
While FanDuel was a distant second to DraftKings in mobile handle with $144.8 million, it easily led the pack of the state’s 18 mobile sportsbooks in gross revenue with $19.3 million, thanks to a 13.3% win rate. That marked the second-highest total in both state and FanDuel history, trailing only the $24 million generated in May.
DraftKings made some history of its own, topping $200 million in handle for the second time in Arizona, as its $215.6 million in accepted wagers was a 66.1% increase compared to August. The surge in wagers, however, did not translate into substantially more revenue, as the $13.2 million in gross winnings represented a 17.5% increase.
BetMGM, which also had its retail sportsbook at State Farm Stadium open for business in September, was the only other operator to reach eight figures in gross revenue. Its $11 million was an all-time monthly high, edging out the $10.7 million claimed in January, while the 13.7% hold trailed only the 18% from the initial month of operations in September 2021.
BetMGM’s aggressive promotional outlay in Arizona continued with more than $5.7 million, raising its total on the year to over $45.2 million. By way of comparison, FanDuel and DraftKings both offered more than $7 million in promotional credits in September, and their year-to-date totals are $33.5 million and $29.8 million, respectively.
Caesars Sportsbook reported a year-best $6.3 million in gross revenue, notching an all-time high hold of 13.7% on $46.1 million. The only higher revenue total came last November when it claimed $7.4 million. Its promotional spend in September crept over $1 million for the first time since April, but its $12.3 million total for the first nine months of the year lags far behind the top three.
Barstool Sportsbook also set a 2022 best for gross revenue with $1.5 million and was the last of the five operators that had handles of $10 million or higher. Barstool’s 10.5% win rate ranks second in its Arizona history, behind only the 12% from last November.
Hard Rock Sportsbook ramped up its promo spend compared to August, as its $1.25 million outlay was more than triple the previous month. The Seminole Tribe-based mobile book had a strong month with $1.3 million in revenue, thanks to an 18.8% hold on $7.2 million worth of accepted wagers.
Wrapping up a horrific September for bettors
FINAL September national #SportsBetting numbers
Handle: $7,919,050,156
GGR: $927,034,092
GGR Win Rate: 11.7064%
AGR: $787,933,667
AGR WR: 9.9499%
Promos/Deductions: $139,100,425
Taxes: $173,670,020#GamblingTwitter— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) December 1, 2022
The nationwide handle for September finished about $81 million shy of $8 billion, a 44.5% increase from 2021, with a total of 27 states compared to 23 at the same time last year. Also notably different from 2021 is New York offering mobile wagering, as the state accounted for more than half the $2.4 billion increase in nationwide dollars wagered year-over-year.
Arizona’s 10.3% hold on gross revenue was the fourth-worst of the 27 states and the lowest of any state to clear 10%. But it was still good enough to notably contribute to a pummeling of the betting public that saw nationwide gross revenue reach a whopping $927 million for the month.
The previous record in the post-PASPA era was $723.3 million last November, and September’s total is 2.4 times higher than the 2022 low of $387.5 million established in February. September’s revenue total was also $14.7 million more than the gross revenue of July and August combined, with operators also posting a double-digit hold in the latter month.
The 11.7064% hold on gross revenue was three-thousandths of a percentage point lower than the all-time mark of 11.7095% established in September 2018, when only five states were taking bets. The $817.3 million handle generated that month accounts for 10.3% of the handle generated in 2022, while this year’s nationwide revenue haul was close to a 10-fold increase from the $95.7 million total claimed four years ago.
Unsurprisingly, the adjusted revenue total of $787.9 million was an all-time monthly record, though the large amount of deductions Arizona had that created a 5.7% in-state hold on adjusted revenue barely knocked the national win rate to single digits at 9.95%. The cumulative $173.7 million in tax receipts that states collected was also an all-time monthly best and more than the nationwide totals of 2018 and 2019 combined.
