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Arizona falls just short of $500m sports betting handle in December

| By Robert Fletcher
Players in Arizona bet a record $499.2m (£379.4m/€455.1m) on sports in December 2021, though gross revenue fell 23.1% month-on-month.

Wagering was up 7.0% month-on-month from $466.7m in November, with the state’s handle split $494.5m for online bets and $4.7m at retail sportsbooks.

Consumers won a total of $454.9m from mobile betting and $4.5m from retail wagering.

As a result, despite this higher spending, gross revenue before free bets fell from $50.2m in November to $38.6m in December.

After accounting for $21.3m worth of free bets – almost all of which were distributed to online players – taxable revenue was $17.3m, down 45.6% month-on-month.

DraftKings led the way in December after taking $146.0m in total bets, followed by Flutter Entertainment-owned FanDuel Group on $128.5m and BetMGM with $103.8m.

In terms of gross revenue, DraftKings also ranked first on $11.0m, ahead of FanDuel with $10.7m and BetMGM on $8.8m.

After taking away free bets, FanDuel was top with $7.2m in revenue, then DraftKings on $6.7m and BetMGM with $1.2m.

Total tax collected from sports betting in December was $1.7m.

Arizona’s sports betting market launched in September 2021 after an amended compact bill was approved by the US Department of the Interior.

The bill allowed players to place bets at tribal casinos and sites that are owned by major league sports teams in the state.

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