Best Online Sportsbook Arizona: It’s Not Just FanDuel vs. DraftKings

Best online sportsbook Arizona sounds like a two-horse race, and by the numbers it mostly is — FanDuel has stayed slightly ahead of DraftKings in monthly handle through 2026. But the part that gets skipped in most rankings is structural: Arizona never sold a plain sportsbook license to anyone. Every app on this list exists because a specific NFL team, NBA team, MLB team, golf venue, or tribal casino agreed to back it.

How Arizona’s License Structure Actually Works

HB 2772, signed by Governor Doug Ducey on April 15, 2021, and the amended tribal-state gaming compact behind it created 20 total event wagering licenses — ten for professional sports franchises and the venues that host major tours, ten for Arizona’s federally recognized tribes. A Maricopa County judge declined to block the law, and the market opened statewide on September 9, 2021, the first day of that year’s NFL season, with Ducey placing the ceremonial first bet himself.

FanDuel and the Phoenix Suns

FanDuel partnered with the Phoenix Suns for its Arizona license, building a retail sportsbook lounge into Footprint Center and launching its mobile app the same day the market opened. Through mid-2026 that partnership has translated into the state’s largest handle — $183.4 million in July alone, just ahead of DraftKings’ $176.5 million — in a market that moved more than $599 million that same month.

DraftKings’ License Runs Through a Golf Course

DraftKings took a different route than almost every other state it operates in: its Arizona license is backed by TPC Scottsdale, the PGA Tour venue behind the WM Phoenix Open, rather than a pro sports franchise or a tribe. It trails FanDuel by a few percentage points of handle most months, close enough that either app is a reasonable first download.

BetMGM’s Two Partners, One App

BetMGM is the only Arizona operator holding both license types at once: the Arizona Cardinals, for a sportsbook built into State Farm Stadium in Glendale, and the Gila River Indian Community — owner of the Lone Butte, Vee Quiva, and Wild Horse Pass casinos and the largest tribal gaming operator in the state. Caesars runs a similar split on a smaller scale, licensed mobile-side through the Arizona Diamondbacks and operating a separate, retail-only Caesars-branded book inside Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino under the Ak-Chin Indian Community.

One thing none of these four offer here: online casino games. Arizona’s compact reserves slots, blackjack, and live-dealer tables for tribal casinos alone, so this list is a sportsbook ranking only. And unlike plenty of states that simply tolerate offshore sites, Arizona has gone after one by name — a felony cease-and-desist against Bovada’s operator in November 2024 — which is one more reason there is little practical reason to look past the 13 licensed operators already live. None of this is a way to make money; treat it as paid entertainment, 21+, through books the state actually regulates.

The short list

1. 1. FanDuel — Handle leader in Arizona, backed by the Phoenix Suns

   FanDuel outdrew DraftKings in Arizona handle through mid-2026 ($183.4 million to $176.5 million in July alone) and was one of the first two books to go live on September 9, 2021, the day Governor Doug Ducey placed Arizona’s first legal mobile bet. Its license partner is the Phoenix Suns, with a retail sportsbook lounge built into Footprint Center — not a tribe, and not a standalone license.

2. 2. DraftKings — Licensed through a PGA Tour golf course, not a team or tribe

   DraftKings runs a close second to FanDuel in Arizona handle and is the one major book here whose Arizona license traces to a golf venue: TPC Scottsdale, host of the WM Phoenix Open, rather than a pro sports franchise or a tribal casino — a different structure than its licenses in most other states.

3. 3. BetMGM — The only operator with both a team license and a tribal license

   BetMGM holds Arizona’s only dual market-access deal: the Arizona Cardinals for a sportsbook planned at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, and the Gila River Indian Community — owner of the Lone Butte, Vee Quiva, and Wild Horse Pass casinos and the largest tribal gaming operator in the state — for the tribal side.

4. 4. Caesars Sportsbook — Backed by the Diamondbacks, plus a retail book at a tribal casino

   Caesars Sportsbook’s mobile license runs through the Arizona Diamondbacks, and it also operates a retail-only Caesars-branded sportsbook inside Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino under a separate partnership with the Ak-Chin Indian Community — one of the few Arizona books with two license types at once.

Questions this list actually answers