The Arizona Department of Gaming released Friday the financial results for sports betting during May, showing the state’s retail and online sportsbooks accepted $461.45 million in wagers, 10% less than in April, a month in which the Grand Canyon State recorded $512.8 million in handle. Almost 99% of betting was done online.
Monthly tax revenue from Arizona sports betting hit a record high in the fifth month of the year, even as overall wagering decreased amid a slowing schedule of events. Meanwhile, revenue for the month was nearly $55.2 million for operators, or a hold of about 12%. In April, revenue had been $29.2 million, and the win rate was 5.7%.
Operators deducted about $13.8 million in free bets and other promotions that were given to bettors, which led to $41.4 million in adjusted revenue for May. With Arizona’s 8% tax rate on retail sports betting revenue, and 10% levy on mobile wagering receipts, the tax owed to the state for the month was $4.1 million, a new record.
Among operators, FanDuel was the top sportsbook for the month, with an online handle of $148.7 million. Second was DraftKings, which reported $141.1 million in mobile wagering, followed by BetMGM with $84.2 million in online betting.
In a statement, Ted Vogt, director of the AGD, said: “The newly emerging event wagering industry in Arizona continues to impress, with over $460 million wagered and over $4 million in privilege fees in the month of May. Since the start of legal event wagering, we have seen approximately $30 million in privilege and licensing fees contributed to the state.”
In May, there were 18 online sportsbooks taking wagers in the southwestern state. Numbers for the month included the contribution of three brick-and-mortar sportsbooks as well.
A decrease in Arizona sports betting handle may take place in June, as has been the case with some states that have already published figures for that month. Legal sports betting launched in Arizona in September 2021, in time for the start of the NFL’s regular season.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/07/25/63565-arizona-sports-betting-handle-down-10–in-may-to–461m–but-monthly-tax-revenue-hits-record-high
