The popular streaming service, fuboTV, has decided to immediately shut down its self-branded sportsbook. After an internal review, fuboTV concluded the sportsbook operation was hurting its long-term profitability goals.
Arizona was one of three states where Fubo Sportsbook was legal, along with Iowa and New Jersey. What’s next for the Arizona online sports betting market?
Will Another Sportsbook Take Fubo’s Place?
With Fubo Sportsbook leaving the Arizona market, there are now 17 sports betting apps available to bettors in the Grand Canyon State.
One of those 17, TwinSpires, made a similar decision to leave the online sportsbook space earlier this year. Owned and operated by Churchill Downs, its CEO cited limited opportunities for profitability as a key factor. TwinSpires is still available in Arizona, however, but is strictly used for horse racing betting.
Maxwell Hartgraves, Public Information Officer for the Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG), told Arizona Casinos, “The Department is in contact with the licensee, and the situation is under active review.”
The Ak-Chin Indian Community, who had been partnered with Fubo Sportsbook, would now seem to have an open mobile sports betting license. Ak-Chin had already gone through the application and approval process in order to offer a license to fuboTV in the first place.
At this time, there’s no indication of any sportsbook taking over the license in the immediate future.
Was Fubo Sportsbook Ever Successful in Arizona?
Looking back at the sports betting revenue reports provided by ADG, Fubo Sportsbook took in under $500,000 in total wagers in January 2022, its first full month operating in Arizona. Fubo’s handle accounted for less than 0.10% of Arizona’s total handle that month.
The highest amount of wagers Fubo Sportsbook took in was during February, coming in at just under $900,000. This came out to a 0.18% market share in total mobile wagers.
Fubo Sportsbook’s delayed launch certainly didn’t help in Arizona’s fast-developing market. Going up against industry giants like DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars is never an easy task. It’s even more difficult to gain a significant market share whenever you give those operators a near four-month head start.
Add in the high degree of competition in Arizona, and it is an uphill battle for any sportsbook that doesn’t carry significant brand recognition.
Who Could Be Next?
There are really only two operators that would make sense to enter Arizona’s online sportsbook market – PointsBet and Fanatics. PointsBet is already legal in more than ten states and is a decently well-known operator. Last year, PointsBet had a marketing partnership with Sunday Night Football and currently has celebrity ambassadors like Drew Brees and Paige Spiranac.
Fanatics, although completely new to the sports betting industry, has set out with aggressive expansion plans. Fanatics has applied for licenses in the two newest online markets in Ohio and Maryland. Both states will be launching mobile sports betting in the coming months.
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