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Arizona has hit $200 million in gross revenue for its sports betting licensees for the year. While that’s nothing novel for it, the state reached that point a month ahead of its pace last year.
The Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) recently released its accounting of legal sports wagering activity in the state in May. While it kept the state on pace to post a record year in terms of revenue and taxes from regulated sports betting, the rest of the year looks even brighter in that regard.
Sportsbooks win $48.5 million from Arizona bettors in May
According to the ADG, bettors wagered more than $451.7 million on sporting events using Arizona’s licensed books during May. The books kept about 8.9% of that money, totaling more than $48.5 million during the month.
After books took their allowable deductions, that equated to around $3.3 million for Arizona’s treasury. While the amount of money that bettors put down in May 2022 was marginally higher, the books fared better in the same month last year than they did in May 2023.
A year ago, Arizona sportsbooks reported 12% more dollars won and paid almost 20% more money to the state on that win. Those declines are obviously less than desirable but the entire year so far is still looking quite strong. Previous months like April’s Arizona sports betting revenue have more than made up for this downturn.
Through the first five months of 2023, sportsbooks have reported almost $230 million in gross revenue. That means they are nearly 19% ahead of themselves in terms of their win through the first five months of 2022.
Future months’ returns could help that improvement expand even further.
Arizona’s sports betting landscape could expand soon
In June, the ADG announced that it is taking applications for up to three more licenses to offer sports wagering. One of the licenses will be reserved for a tribal casino operator in the state. The other two will be available to sport entertainment entities in the state.
Should it fill those licenses, that would bring the number of legal options in Arizona up to 20. However, that could prove challenging. Most of the sports organizations in the state already are involved in sports betting.
At the same time, there is likely to be interest in the tribal license. Originally, the state earmarked 10 of the licenses for tribal operators. There are many more tribal gaming authorities operating within Arizona’s borders, however.
More operators could mean more revenue capture for the state’s sports wagering industry. That could help push Arizona sportsbooks toward half a billion in win in record time this year now that they have surpassed $200 million.
