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.