As of April 2021, sports betting is legal in the state of Arizona.

Sports betting has certainly kicked off with a bang in the state of Arizona. The state registered the best start to legal online sports betting since the US Senate withdrew the nationwide ban in 2018.

Before a dollar had even been wagered there were dozens of online sportsbooks lining up to receive a license in time for the start of the NFL season in 2021.

The current state legislation requires online sportsbooks to be partnered with an existing tribal casino or an AZ-based sports team.

The number of licenses is capped at 10 sports team partnerships and 10 tribal partnerships.

This means that there are some big names, such as PointsBet that missed out in the first round of licenses.

Once you have selected what sportsbook you wish to sign-up with, you will need to follow a simple sign-up process.

Before we go through these steps it is important to remind you that you must be within state borders in order to legally wager.

1. Create an account → In order to collect your welcome bonus, you will need to click on the green claim button which is situated in the list above. This will guarantee that you will receive your bonus by automatically adding the relevant promo code. Many online sportsbooks will then ask you which state you would like to sign-up to, here you should select Arizona. You will then be directed to the sign-up page where you will need to enter some basic details, such as your name, SSN, address, email and phone number.
2. Confirm your email address → At this stage most online AZ sportsbooks will send you an email with a link as confirmation that it is your correct email.
3. Select your payment method → Below this section we have presented the best payment options for sportsbook deposits and withdrawals.
4. Make your first deposit → Now you should be all signed up and you will need to place your first deposit. Here it is important to understand your welcome bonus. If it is a deposit bonus then your sportsbook will calculate the value of bonus bets it awards you according to your first deposit, so you will need to take that into account. We have included a section outlining the main types of welcome bonuses available in the Great Canyon State.
5. Place a wager! → You can now place your first wager and again, remember this may be linked to your welcome bonus if, for example, you are placing a second chance bet.

If you are a sports bettor in Arizona, then this is things don't get much better than this.

Arizona is an entirely new market and therefore online sportsbooks are investing in some truly outrageous welcome offers to get you on board. Since the competition is high in Arizona, with a load of online sportsbooks all coming online at once, there will also be a high level of competition between the sportsbooks further inflating the number of welcome bonuses.

Put simply, a sportsbook such as FanDuel will not want their welcome bonus to be lower than the other sportsbooks, so if one other sportsbook raises the stakes, FanDuel will most likely follow suit.

This can both be good and bad news for you as a new customer.

The higher competition will lead to larger bonuses for you. It will also force sportsbooks to offer a range of different types of bonuses such as second chance bets or even the much-coveted no-deposit bonuses.

However, in an effort to appear more competitive, sportsbooks will undoubtedly become more creative with their small print which can ultimately result in some misleading claims. We usually see this in the form of a high turnover requirement. This means that you are required to win a certain amount of times with your original bonus before it is counted as real money, and not a bonus bet. This can mean lead to a situation where one sportsbook may appear to offer a smaller bonus, but this bonus may in fact be better value.

Let's look at the following example:

• Sportsbook A offers a matched deposit bonus of $1,000
• Sportsbook B offers a matched deposit bonus of $500

At first glance, it would appear that sportsbook A is much better value, especially if you are willing to put down $1000 as a first deposit. However, in the small print, you find a turnover requirement.

• Sportsbook A has an x12 turnover requirement with its matched bonus
• Sportsbook B has an x1 turnover requirement with its matched bonus

This stipulation is often included far down in the terms and conditions. Sportsbook A's requirement means that you will need to win 12 wagers in a row with your bonus bets before the money is yours compared to Sportsbook A where you must only win once, making it a much better value.

The lesson here is you must always do your homework! There are some bonuses that really are too good to be true.

This is currently the in vogue welcome bonus.

A second chance bet bonus guarantees your first wager back in the form of bonus bets if you lose, which can then be wagered again to try and win back your initial loss!

This is a great type of offer and can offer your some real value. However, it is important to remember that it is not without risk.

You are repaid your original wager in the form of a bonus bet, which means you will need to place one more wager and risk losing before the money is counted as yours.

You can see some of the different outcomes in the example below.

As long as you have accounted for the fact that a second chance bet is not entirely without risk, then we can highly recommend this type of bet.

We prefer to see this type of bet as an opportunity to have a second try, should you screw up your first wager. This is especially relevant to a new customer who may not be acquainted with sports betting or that particular sportsbooks product. Arizona's online sports betting market is still pretty new in the grand scheme of things, so we can imagine there will be many residents trying their hand at online wagering for the first time. But, again, a second chance bet is a great way to test the water.

As we mentioned earlier, there are some outrageous promos out there at the moment. However, we do not recommend that you go for the maximum amount straight off the bat.

This form of bonus matches your initial deposit.

So, if you make a $100 deposit, you will receive $100 in bonus bets.

Every matched deposit on offer will include a minimum deposit amount (usually $10) and a maximum deposit amount.

With this type of offer, it is especially important to check the turnover requirement.

This type of bonus is the holy grail of sportsbook promotions.

If you are lucky enough to come across a no deposit bonus with a licensed and reputable online sportsbook then we highly recommend that you snap it up.

A no deposit bonus requires no financial commitment from you. You simply need to sign-up to the sportsbook which has offered a no deposit bonus and collect your bonus bets.

It is comparable to walking into a retail store, providing your details and simply being handed a load of vouchers.

No deposit bonuses only appear once in a blue moon and usually as part of a marketing drive. However, as a new market, it is highly likely that an AZ sportsbook will offer a no deposit bonus at some point.

Since the US Senate removed the federal ban on sports betting, dozens of states have decided to legalize sports betting. As a result, there are now a significant number of legal and licensed sportsbooks operating all over the country.

Despite this, there is still a great deal of confusion within the US banking system regarding transactions to and from sportsbooks. This means that there is always a great deal of uncertainty surrounding direct bank transfers and Visa and Mastercard transactions.

Banks routinely block perfectly legal deposits using Visa and Mastercard. So if you manage to get your money in using your card, you are more than likely not going to be able to withdraw any winnings using the same method.

This teething phase has led to many trusted payment providers filling the gap, playing intermediaries between the banks and the sportsbooks.

All licensed sportsbooks in Arizona offer PayPal as a payment option.

The world-renowned payment provider is currently the most popular deposit and withdrawal option for sports wagering in the country.

There are several reasons for this:

An easy-to-use platform → PayPal is trusted and used by millions of people across the world. It has built its brand around its functionality and user-friendly interface. It has both an excellent desktop website and mobile app.

Ease of payments → As PayPal is trusted by both banks and sportsbooks, it is the perfect middleman, allowing you to circumvent restrictions placed on you by the banks. Instead, the banks simply see money going to your PayPal account.

Security → PayPal boasts a state of the art encrypted security system that guarantees your payments are safe and adds an extra layer of security to your sportsbook deposits and withdrawals. In addition, if you use PayPal as a payment option, you will not need to store sensitive banking information with your sportsbook.

Skrill is another payment provider that offers an almost identical service to PayPal.

The company is much smaller, and much more of its revenue comes from sports betting compared to its main rival, PayPal which boasts a global customer base across every imaginable industry.

However, the fact that Skrill is focused on sports betting has meant that it is popular with a number of global brands including British sportsbook giant Bet365.

Skrill ticks all the same boxes as PayPal including a secure encrypted payment service and great functionality.

Skrill is not offered as a payment option by all online sportsbooks in the US. It is currently partnered with four online sportsbooks:

• Bet365
• BetMGM
• FoxBet
• Unibet

Even though the two payment providers offer almost identical services, there are a few factors to consider when picking which one to use.

Why use PayPal over Skrill?

No withdrawal fee → PayPal will charge you a 2.9% fee when you deposit into your account along with a flat $0.30 fee. However, it will not charge you when you withdraw your funds. This means that if you like to place a larger lump deposit but withdraw your funds more frequently, then PayPal is the best option. Skrill, on the other hand, charges you when you withdraw cash.

PayPal can be used for online shopping → Which means that it is possible to hold your winnings in your PayPal account and spend them online rather than transferring your money again from your PayPal account to your bank account. Unfortunately, Skrill is not accepted by as many online merchants.

Are you an existing customer? → If you are, then it makes sense to stick with a platform you are familiar with.

Why use Skrill over PayPal?

No Deposit Fee → Skrill will charge you $5.50 when you withdraw your cash from your Skrill account. This means that if you prefer to make smaller, more frequent deposits to your online sportsbook, then Skrill could be the right choice for you.

Keep your sports betting money separate → It can make sense to keep your sports betting winnings from the rest of your money. Since Skrill is primarily a sport betting payment platform, it is much easier to track what money is from sports wagering.

The Grand Canyon State is well represented when it comes to professional sports teams.

The most popular sport in the state is pro football. The most popular team is the Arizona Cardinals who play in the NFL and are based in Phoenix. The team have never won the Super Bowl but in the pre-Super Bowl era they picked up two Championship titles. They have made a total of 11 playoff appearances.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are a MLB team based in Phoenix. They were founded in 1998 as an expansion team and won the World Series after only four seasons. Caesars Sportsbook has announced that they will partner with the Diamondbacks.

The Phoenix Suns are an NBA team based in Phoenix. They have made it two NBA finals, losing both. Fanduel has announced that they will partner with the Suns

The Arizona Coyotes are an NHL team based in Glendale.

The Phoenix Mercury currently play in the Western Conference of the WNBA.

The Phoneix Raceway is located in Avondale, Arizona and hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. The raceway has also hosted the CART, IndyCar Series, USAC and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.