The Arizona Department of Gaming just released the February totals for the sports betting industry in the state, revealing almost $492 million in wagers. Close to the $500 million mark, sports bettors were able to win the majority as sportsbooks only earned $24.4 million in profits after taxes. Of that amount, operators provided just over $17 million in free bets, which cut down the earnings total to around $6.9 million.
More Details for February
The free bets continue to eat away at profits, and they will do so for quite some time, along with the state tax rate. Right now, operators pay 20% of gross gaming receipts. This will change after two years and lower to 15%. In the 6th year of operation, the total goes down to just 10%.
For February, the numbers were a bit lower than January’s totals. Bets came in at $563 million the previous month with $19.6 million in earnings after free bets were removed along with $1.9 million in taxes. In February, the operators paid just $670,000 in taxes.
The drop in wagers was expected, though wagering levels still indicate that the sports betting market is strong in Arizona. Sports bettors are still coming out and wagering, even though February is typically a slower month for betting.
Individual Operator Breakdown
There are more online services in Arizona than retail, so let’s look at the retail totals first. Caesars saw just over $580,000 in bets placed within its retail services while FanDuel saw a much larger turnout of sports bettors with over $2.7 million. Caesars generated over $62,000 in profit from the bets while FanDuel earned just over $736,000.
There are several online sports betting operators in the state, but we will cover just the top earners. FanDuel takes the top spot yet again, with just over $142 million in bets online. Close behind is DraftKings with $131 million in wagers.
These two are the frontrunners in the state and it is no surprise. Both FanDuel and DraftKings tend to have the market share in states where they offer legalized sports betting services both online and offline. The brands are well-known among sports bettors so they tend to be the go-to option for newbies in the market as well as seasoned bettors.
In third place for February was BetMGM, with just over $99.8 million in wagers. Following behind was Caesars with $78 million and Barstool Sports with $17.9 million. Other online sports betting operators in the state fared well but did not come close to the higher end of the betting spectrum like these brands.
The top online earner for the month was DraftKings with $4.3 million in earnings. The free bets hurt a lot of operators online when it comes to earnings so there were only a handful of totals to review. Barstool Sports generated just over $732,000 in earnings while BetMGM was close behind at $658,000+.
WynnBET managed to generate earnings as well, bringing in just over $281,000. With a super-low total of $708.83, Golden Nugget Online Gaming was also on the board.
Just How Many Free Bets Were Awarded?
When it comes to free bets, quite a bit was provided in the state. In total, just over $17.5 million in free bets were provided. BetMGM offered the most at just over $7.9 million followed by DraftKings with $5.4 million. Caesars gave away $2.2 million in bets while FanDuel offered $1.2 million.
The free bet promotions are used as a way to bring players to the market. And it seems to be working. Almost every online operator in the state recorded free bets or promotional credits for February. Players take advantage of these offers to try out a site before investing and hopefully turn a profit with the free cash with a smart sports bet.
