Arizona posts record month for sports wagering in March

Arizona’s fledgling sports wagering industry took in $691 million in betting handle in March, the highest month ever for the state, and paid gamblers $652.1 million in winnings, the Arizona Department of Gaming reported Monday.

March wagering beat February, which included Super Bowl betting, by 40 percent.

“March was an exciting month for Arizona event wagering, with major sporting events like NCAA’s March Madness helping set a single month event wagering handle record,” said Ted Vogt, director of the state gaming department. “I look forward to seeing how the industry continues to develop as we finish out the first year of legal event wagering in the coming months.”

Of the $691 million wagered, $687.7 million, or 99.5 percent of it, was through mobile apps.

Unlike Nevada, Arizona lists wagering statistics from individual vendors. The three leading companies for both taking wagers and paying winners were Boston-based fantasy sports company DraftKings, $230.2 million handle; New York rival FanDuel, $184.6 million; and Las Vegas-based BetMGM, $133.7 million.

Las Vegas-connected Caesars ($95.8 million), WynnBet ($9.9 million) and Sahara Bets ($72,891) were among the contributing companies.

There are 18 brands operating in Arizona, most of them since September and all of them tied either to an Arizona tribal casino operation or an Arizona sports venue.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.