The Arizona Department of Gaming announced Friday it will be accepting applications for sports betting licenses from July 8-19, offering the potential of moving closer to its maximum allotted 20.

There are currently 17 licenses active in the Grand Canyon State, eight tethered to what the state agency calls “Arizona Sports Franchises” and nine to “Arizona Tribes.” The Arizona Department of Gaming stated it will “accept applications for no less than one event wagering license reserved for Arizona Tribes and no less than one event wagering license reserved for Arizona Sports Franchises” in its release.

Arizona is coming off a record monthly handle of $760 million for March as it became the ninth state to surpass $16 billion all-time. March’s handle came within $25.5 million of neighboring Nevada for sixth nationally, showing Arizona’s vast wagering reach through sports betting apps.

The state typically generates 99% of its total handle via mobile wagering and has cleared $700 million in handle three of the last five months.

Will There Be Any Takers?

With Fanatics Sportsbook entering in April and bet365 doing likewise in February, Arizona is a very crowded space for operators. Both began taking bets in the Grand Canyon State after reaching access agreements — Fanatics with the Tonto Apache Tribe and bet365 via the AK-Chin Indian Community — with tribal operators.

Arizona, though, still is an attractive place for operators, as it’s in close proximity to the still non-legal California market as well legal neighboring ones in Nevada and Colorado. Should a mobile operator be approved by the Department of Gaming and pay the $750,000 initial license fee (after ponying up the $100,000 application fee), it will face intense competition in carving out a niche. In reviewing March’s mobile handle totals, FanDuel and DraftKings garnered nearly 70% of the $752.4 million wagered.

When including the other four operators who had $20 million or more handle — BetMGM ($94 million), Caesars ($50.7 million), bet365 ($29.3 million), and ESPN BET ($26.9 million) — that combined market share expands to nearly 96%. Of that remaining $31 million, Hard Rock Bet accounted for nearly 30% of that amount with $9.1 million worth of accepted bets.

One operator that may consider filing the paperwork is Prime Sportsbook, which has been taking bets in Ohio since last September and launched in New Jersey in late March. Prime Executive Chairman Joe Brennan Jr. noted Arizona could fit his sportsbook’s profile for entering a new marketplace.

“Arizona would be interesting because obviously it’s about a 45-minute drive from the Vegas Strip to the Arizona border, but also you have access to Southern California, Colorado, New Mexico, in addition to the fact that Arizona itself is a pretty good, healthy growing marketplace,” Brennan told Sports Handle in a phone interview. “Arizona would kind of fit our desire to find hub states, states that could not only in and of itself be pretty good markets but have access to surrounding neighbors that could also be feeder markets for our type of wagering.”

Brennan, who said Arizona’s 10% tax rate on mobile sports betting revenue “looks very good for the type of operation we run,” stressed Prime’s competition comes from offshore and black markets while taking bets from all comers at their maximum limits.

“Those are the players that we think we have the opportunity to convert,” he said. “Because we’re offering higher limits … we’re not going to reduce players’ limits if they win.”

“Everybody has the right to bet the same max amount on a bet of any betting market that we offer. I think that is the kind of thing that appeals to the people who have remained playing offshore and on the street.”