There are a lot of areas where Arizona ranks high nationally compared to other states. Believe it or not, sports betting is among them. As of February 2023, Arizona ranked 10th nationally in accepted bets. While there are still more than a dozen states without legal sports betting, being in the top 10 is no small feat for Arizona. Of course, it’s not that surprising considering the state has a pro franchise in all four major pro leagues and is less than a year removed from hosting the Super Bowl.
Given the immense popularity of sports betting in Arizona and all of the state’s pro franchises, bettors have a lot of options at their disposal with over a dozen sportsbooks doing business in the Grand Canyon State. In fact, there are currently 17 online sportsbooks that are legally allowed to operate in Arizona.
Recognizable brands like BetMGM have been operating in Arizona since legal sports betting was introduced. All BetMGM legal states, including Arizona, allow bettors access to unique features like live streaming, fast payouts, frequent bonus bet opportunities, and special parlays. In fact, BetMGM went the extra mile by becoming the first sportsbook to open a retail location inside an NFL stadium, doing so at State Farm Stadium in Arizona.
In addition to BetMGM, there are 16 other sportsbooks that currently operate inside Arizona’s borders. Those sportsbooks are Bally Bet, Betfred, BetRivers, Betway, Caesars, Desert Diamond, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, FanDuel, Golden Nugget, Hard Rock Bet, SaharaBets, SuperBook, TwinSpires, Unibet, and WynnBET. Some of those names are recognizable nationwide and throughout the world while others are more regionally based and focus more of their efforts on bettors in Arizona. The bottom line is that Arizona residents have no shortage of options when it comes to finding a sportsbook. In fact, only three other states have more active and legal sportsbooks than the Grand Canyon State.
Perhaps the most amazing part of Arizona’s prominence in the sports betting industry is that sports betting hasn’t been legal in the state as long as some other states. The first sportsbooks in Arizona didn’t launch until September 2021, a few years after the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was overturned in 2018. However, Arizona has been able to quickly make up for lost time. It took just 82 days for Arizona to reach $1 billion in sports wagers, which is the fastest of any state. Arizona’s lightning-fast adoption of sports betting allowed the state to already rank in the top 10 in value of bets received in February 2023, less than 18 months after sports betting became legal in the state.
With Arizona residents and visitors taking such a profound interest in sports betting right away, it’s no wonder the state has more than a dozen sportsbooks to help handle the demand. It also hasn’t hurt that betting was legalized on the heels of the Phoenix Suns reaching the NBA Finals in 2021 and that the Arizona Diamondbacks reached the World Series in 2023. Regardless of how it’s happened, it’s certainly been a meteoric rise for sports betting in Arizona, which is now a national leader in sports betting. Of course, barely two years after making it legal, Arizona might only be scratching the surface of sports betting.
