Illinois Sports Betting Industry Solidifies 2nd Place In The US With Terrific April

Illinois sports betting numbers took an expected dip in April following a record-breaking month in March. But the numbers were incredibly strong, all things considered.

The decline is attributed to:

• No NFL games to bet on.
• The absence of Chicago teams in both the NBA and NHL playoffs.
• Only the Final Four and championship games of the NCAA basketball tournaments being played in April.

Strong betting on the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments is believed to have been the catalyst behind March being the best Illinois sports betting month in history.

Numbers released today by the Illinois Gaming Board show Illinois sports betting sites had total bets of just shy of $900 million in April. That’s down 16% from March’s record total of just over $1.072 billion. March was the fifth month in the previous six in which it surpassed $1 billion in total bets.

Though April’s numbers were off considerably from March, they were up 7% when compared to the more than $839 million wagered in April 2022.

Illinois ranked second in the nation in bets, revenue and taxes in April

The April 2023 totals kept Illinois in second place in the nation in both total bets for that month and revenue. New for April, Illinois jumped over Pennsylvania into second place in terms of taxes collected from sports betting.

Illinois ranked second in the US in April in total handle behind only New York (nearly $1.5 billion bet). New Jersey was third with total handle of nearly $834 million.

In terms of revenue, Illinois raked in over $81 million. Only New York did better with more than $139 million.

Illinois ranked second in sports betting taxes collected in April at more than $14.4 million. New York collected nearly $71 million in taxes. Pennsylvania fell to third in the nation with taxes of more than $13 million in March. It’s important to note that the effective sports betting tax rate is 50.9% in New York and 25.7% in Pennsylvania. Sportsbooks in Illinois were taxed at an effective rate of 17.7% in April.

IL sports betting revenue – April 2023

Licensee	Online Brand	Handle	Revenue	Hold	Taxes
Fairmount Park	FanDuel	$310,193,208	$36,924,542	11.9%	$6,275,205
Casino Queen East St. Louis	DraftKings	$282,280,433	$22,764,158	8.1%	$4,050,936
Rivers Des Plaines	BetRivers	$91,954,290	$7,953,352	8.6%	$1,449,008
Grand Victoria	Caesars	$75,500,229	$2,940,111	3.9%	$655,882
Hawthorne	PointsBet	$49,279,611	$4,974,080	10.1%	$904,674
Par-A-Dice	BetMGM	$49,074,470	$3,146,600	6.4%	$581,324
Hollywood Aurora	Barstool	$35,261,263	$2,116,089	6.0%	$459,561
Argosy		$3,851,935	$348,522	9.0%	$35,002
Hollywood Joliet		$1,176,499	$144,473	12.3%	$17,608
Total		$898,571,938	$81,311,927	9.0%	$14,429,201

April 2023

Handle

1. New York — $1,550,015,914
2. Illinois — $898,571,938
3. New Jersey — $833,980,925
4. Nevada — $580,550,628
5. Massachusetts — $574,829,883

Revenue

1. New York — $139,265,045
2. Illinois — $81,311,927
3. New Jersey — $72,304,036
4. Ohio — $63,819,857
5. Massachusetts — $60,281,564

Taxes

1. New York — $70,842,936
2. Illinois — $14,429,201
3. Pennsylvania — $13,333,004
4. Massachusetts — $11,799,200
5. New Jersey — $10,118,510

Illinois one of only two states showing sports betting growth

In the top 10 US sports betting jurisdictions, only Illinois and New York are showing growth in 2023.

New Jersey, which ranks neck-and-neck with Illinois, is showing signs of cooling off.

PlayIllinois is predicting that by the end of the year Illinois will hold down a solid spot as the second-best sports betting market in the nation, especially with the Circa Sportsbook expected to launch before the NFL season begins.

Through the first four months of the year, Illinois ranks second in handle (over $3.9 billion) behind only New York (over $6.6 billion). The Prairie State is also second in revenue (over $340.5 million) behind New York (over $561 million). Illinois is third in taxes in 2023 (over $56.4 million) behind New York (nearly $285.5 million) and Pennsylvania (over $61 million).

By comparison, in April of 2022, Illinois had handle of more than $839 million (3rd), revenue of more than $68 million (2nd) and collected taxes of more than $11 million (3rd).

Year-to-date through April 2022, Illinois was third in handle (over $3.3 billion), second in revenue (over $238 million) and second in taxes (nearly $37.5 million).

It’s important to note that in March of 2022, fresh legislation came into effect allowing Illinois residents to sign-up online for sportsbooks, rather than doing so at one of the state’s land-based casinos. The decision to allow residents to register online with one of the state’s seven legal sportsbooks has been a boon to the industry.

Year-to-date rankings through April 2023:

Handle

1. New York — $6,616,248,557
2. Illinois — $3,916,694,380
3. New Jersey — $3,789,398,794
4. Ohio — $3,014,214,051
5. Nevada — $3,005,265,686

Revenue

1. New York — $561,204,745
2. Ohio — $451,049,931
3. Illinois — $340,585,315
4. New Jersey — $292,295,695
5. Pennsylvania — $238,448,808

Taxes

1. New York — $285,457,042
2. Pennsylvania — $61,258,306
3. Illinois — $56,458,133
4. Ohio — $45,186,115
5. New Jersey — $41,355,914

Illinois third in lifetime sports betting with over $22.5 billion lifetime

In February, Illinois officially surpassed $20 billion in lifetime sports betting handle. With the April figures, that total is now more than $22.5 billion bet.

In January, Illinois jumped over Pennsylvania into third place in lifetime sports betting handle with over $19.7 billion bet on sports. Illinois’ January numbers also pushed the total, lifetime sports betting handle in the United States over $200 billion.

As of today, more than $229.3 billion has been bet on sports through legal sportsbooks in the United States. That amounts to some $18.2 billion in total revenue and more than $3 billion in taxes.

Illinois numbers less impressive per capita

A PlayIllinois analysis of per capita sports betting reveals the Prairie State does not rank as well.

The 2023 population of the states listed above is:

• New York — 19.51 million
• Pennsylvania — 12.9 million
• Illinois — 12.48 million
• Ohio — 11.75 million
• New Jersey — 9.23 million
• Massachusetts — 6.95 million
• Nevada — 3.25 million

Since Nevada is a destination gambling destination, the per capita figures are deceiving given the state’s relatively low population.

Ranking the top five states (above) in per capita sports wagering:

April 2023

Handle per capita

1. Nevada — $178.63
2. New Jersey — $90.36
3. Massachusetts — $82.71
4. New York — $79.45
5. Illinois — $72

Revenue per capita 

1. Massachusetts — $8.67
2. New Jersey — $7.83
3. New York — $7.14
4. Illinois — $6.52
5. Ohio — $5.43

Taxes per capita

1. New York — $3.63
2. Massachusetts — $1.70
3. Illinois — $1.16
4. New Jersey — $1.10
5. Pennsylvania — $1.03

Year-to-date rankings through April 2023:

Handle per capita

1. Nevada — $924.70
2. New Jersey — $410.55
3. New York — $339.12
4. Illinois — $313.84
5. Ohio — $256.53

Revenue per capita

1. Ohio — $38.39
2. New York — $28.76
3. New Jersey —  $31.67
4. Illinois — $27.29
5. Pennsylvania — $18.48

Taxes per capita

1. New York — $14.63
2. Pennsylvania — $4.75
3. Illinois — $4.52
4. New Jersey — $4.48
5. Ohio — $3.85