At long last, there is a duel in the desert when it comes to sports betting.

The Arizona Department of Gaming reported $656.3 million in handle for April on Friday, the first time in 32 months of legal wagering that the state finished with a higher handle than neighboring Nevada.

The Grand Canyon State came relatively close to accomplishing the feat in March, when its record $760 million in wagers were $25.5 million shy of the Silver State. Arizona’s bettors showed staying power in April, however, as all but $6.4 million of the accepted wagers were placed through the state’s 16 mobile operators. That contributed to Arizona having an April handle $87.2 million higher than Nevada.

Overall handle in Arizona was up 22.5% compared to last April and 13.6% off March’s record action. It also became the seventh state to surpass $17 billion in all-time handle, moving ahead of Indiana despite the Hoosier State having already published its numbers for May.

Gross revenue before any deductions were taken totaled $64.9 million as operators statewide had a collective 9.9% hold. Operator winnings were up 32.1% from April 2023 and 9.5% compared to March.

The state was eligible to levy taxes on $43.4 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue, resulting in an inflow of $4.3 million into Arizona tax coffers. The $15.5 million in receipts is $3.9 million ahead of last year’s pace through four months as the $155.5 million in year-to-date AGR is up 33.3%.

1 New York $1.97B
2 Illinois $1.1B
3 New Jersey $1.04B
4 Ohio $674.2M
5 ARIZONA $656.3M
6 North Carolina $648.9M
7 Penn. $646.1M
8 Mass. $603.3M
9 Nevada $569.2M
10 Virginia $563.5M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) June 14, 2024

Arizona is quickly gaining on Nevada for handle this year thanks to the vast reach of sports betting apps. While Nevada’s $2.85 billion handle in 2024 is $117.6 million more than Arizona, its southern neighbor has generated $931 million more in mobile handle.

This is partly by design as Las Vegas is a go-to gambling mecca of the United States and requires in-person registration to gain access to a mobile sportsbook. Arizona has had remote registration since the state began accepting bets in September 2021 and the difference in percentage of mobile handle to overall handle is telling — Arizona’s mobile handle represents 99% of its overall handle while Nevada’s apps account for 64.2% of the total action.

It also helps when the top two mobile sportsbooks in the U.S. — FanDuel and DraftKings — operate in Arizona and not in Nevada. The online titans again ranked 1-2 when it came to revenue and handle in April. FanDuel reaped nearly $27 million in gross winnings from $230.3 million in handle, crafting an 11.7% hold while surpassing $100 million in revenue for the year.

DraftKings had a solid 9.3% hold in keeping $19.5 million of the $209.8 million wagered on its platform, clearing $400 million in all-time revenue. With $53.1 million in winnings through the first four months of 2024, it is already more than halfway to its 2023 full-year total of $103.6 million.

BetMGM completed the top three in strong fashion, attaining an 11.2% win rate in collecting $8.5 million in revenue from $76.4 million in handle. It has notched a double-digit hold in eight of the last 12 months and pushed its all-time win rate in Arizona back to 10%.

There was a big gap from BetMGM to fourth-place Caesars, which had its first month below $40 million in handle since last June at $39.1 million. Its 8.3% hold, though, was a year-to-date high and helped provide $3.2 million in revenue.

Bet365 continued its strong start to Arizona sports betting, rounding out the top five in revenue at close to $2 million and handle with $30.2 million. The England-based sportsbook also made its first tax payment to the state in April, paying $62,334 in levies after reporting $623,300 in adjusted gross revenue. Its $1.3 million in promotional credits and bonuses to bettors was one-third less than the $1.9 million outlay in March.

ESPN BET‘s handle of $21.6 million was an all-time low since entering the state last November, but an 8.8% win rate allowed it to nearly match bet365 in revenue at $1.9 million. The two operators were separated by less than $5,200 in promotional spend in April.

Fanatics Sportsbook, which took its first bets in the Grand Canyon State on April 4, landed in the top half among the state’s 17 mobile operators with $1.46 million in revenue from $15.7 million worth of bets placed. Fanatics did not report any positive AGR for April, with its promotional spend at least $1.42 million after deducting the federal excise tax.

Three sportsbooks finished in the red for April — Betfred, Golden Nugget, and Unibet — with Betfred having the biggest loss of the trio, paying out $50,400 on top of its $3.8 million handle. Unibet, which left the marketplace June 4, absorbed a loss of $4,600, and Golden Nugget lost $11,600 from only $153,700 in wagers.

Mobile operators had a collective 9.8% hold on $634.3 million in handle, faring far better than their retail counterparts. Those venues reaped $81,800 in gross winnings from $6.4 million worth of bets, resulting in a meager 1.3% win rate.