Caesars Entertainment All In from p 17 Of the $691 million handle in March, just $3.3 million came from betting windows, according to the gaming depart- ment. But gambling gurus advise not to judge the impact of retail sportsbooks on the numbers alone. “Instead of going to get a hot dog, fans will be making a half-time adjustment,” Lindover said. “Seeing the game and betting in person, seeing the players in real-time, the crowd reaction … there is tremendous value in offering that, and Arizona was the first state to figure that out.” Dorson said it’s “definitely a unique experience” to bet live, adding that “it allows fans to see what sports betting is really like.” Maybe that’s why the state has cata- pulted from 270,000 active bettors last year to an estimated 2 million today, according to numbers from Nielsen. Flanked by Ducey, the Cardinals and BetMGM made history on the first day of the NFL season — and 364 days after sports betting went live in Arizona. Dignitaries debuted the first sportsbook at an NFL stadium with a ribbon-cutting event at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on September 8. “I cannot express how historic a day this is here in Glendale,” BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said at the event. “The opening of the first sportsbook on an NFL property is truly a milestone event.” The Super Bowl, set for February at State Farm Stadium, will mark the first major American sports championship to ever be held in a state with legal sports gambling. “With Arizona already a Top 10 sports betting market in the United States, I am excited to see the positive impact these new games will make on the state as we move past our first year of legal wagering,” Ted Vogt, director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, said in an email to New Times. “Sports betting gives another opportunity for tourists to In the former Game 7 space just outside of Chase Field, Caesars Sportsbook is open year-round, not just on game days. It’s a two-story lounge with a full bar, massive LED screens, and Guy Fieri’s Downtown Phoenix Kitchen. visit our state, particularly for major sporting events.” ‘A $300 Billion Industry’ It was the night of November 15, 2020, at State Farm Stadium. Eleven seconds were left on the clock. Down four points, the Cardinals had advanced to the Buffalo Bills’ 43-yard line with one shot left at the end zone. No one in the building had bet on the game. At least, not legally. Quarterback Kyler Murray launched the pigskin desperately toward the uprights. The ball landed in the hands of DeAndre Hopkins to record a touchdown and a win. Before the snap, the Vegas moneyline odds for Arizona were +1600, or about 6 percent. Lindover, the sports betting consultant, booked that bet on behalf of one of his Cardinals-crazed clients. He never thought that, less than two years later, a then- nonexistent sports betting industry in Arizona would be worth $5 billion, he said. Arizona Casinos, an ADG-approved sports betting information website, predicted in February that at full maturity, mobile sports betting would produce $20 million in annual revenue for the state. Having generated more than $30 million in its first year, the market is remarkably mature already, Matheson noted. He predicted the betting market in Arizona will climb to $7 billion next year. Matheson also forecasts that the U.S. sports betting market will rise from $84 billion this year to eclipse $300 billion in the near future, thanks in large part to contributions from the Grand Canyon State. “This is what we expected out of Arizona,” Matheson said. “We just didn’t think it would be this quickly.” 19 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES SEPT 22ND–SEPT 28TH, 2022