January Sports Betting Revenue Is More Than Half a Billion Wagers

The Arizona Department of Gaming released the Jan. event wagering revenue numbers last week.

“January’s sports betting haul in Arizona shows that the market’s primed for big things in its first full year of operation. With the Super Bowl and March Madness still to come, it’s safe to say that the Grand Canyon state should be positioned to become one of the top markets for wagering in the U.S. during 2022,” says Christopher Boan of BetArizona.com (see What to Know About Arizona Sports Betting’s Record-Breaking January Handle for his full article).

Key takeaways:

• Arizona sports betting’s January handle hit half a billion dollars. The handle figure of $563.6 million set a new state record and was more than $60 million greater than December’s handle of $499 million. Online sports betting in the state debuted on the first day of the 2021 NFL season, Sept. 9.
• Arizona’s January handle was seventh place nationally behind New York ($1.68 billion), New Jersey ($1.3 billion), Nevada ($1.1 billion), Illinois ($867.5 million), Pennsylvania ($793.7 million) and Colorado ($573.7 million). Arizona moved ahead of Michigan ($532.6 million) in January. Indiana was the other state to surpass $500 million in handle for the month. January was the first month there was legal online sports betting in New York.
• The $1.749 million in taxes taken in by the state was slightly ahead of the December figure of $1.7 million. The biggest tax month since sports betting launched was November, when $3.1 million was earned for the state. Arizona has taken in nearly $8 million in taxes for the first four-plus months sports betting has been legal. Operators gave out $20.8 million in free bets and promotional credits in January. Operators get a tax break on the free bets and promotional credits they offer during the first five years of sports betting in Arizona. That tax break is up to 20% of their gross wagers for the first two years.
• DraftKings and FanDuel continue to be the market leaders in handle. DraftKings took in $173 million in January, while FanDuel had nearly $154 million in wagers. BetMGM also crossed the $100 million mark during January at $120 million. There were 12 active operators in the state in January. March will be the first month all 18 licensed operators are active in the state.

January stats:

• Arizona sports betting numbers – total handle and mobile handle are state records
• January sports betting handle $563,694,591, up 12.9% from December ($499,213,733) – old record was December
• January mobile sports betting handle $558,694,852, up 13.0% from December ($494,488,475 – old record was December
• January sports betting revenue (adjusted gross event wagering receipts) $19,622,351, up 13.5% from December ($17,281,600)
• January state tax from sports betting $1,952,971, up 13.3% from December ($1,723,902)
• Top 10 states for January sports betting handle: New York $1.686 billion, New Jersey $1.349 billion, Nevada $1.109 billion, Illinois $867.5 million, Pennsylvania $793.7 million, Colorado $573.7 million, Arizona $563.7 million, Michigan $532.7 million, Indiana $500.1 million, Virginia $485.5 million.