Illinois Sports Betting Handle Ranks Third In The Nation In 2022

Written By Dave Briggs on August 12, 2022 - Last Updated on September 15, 2022
Illinois ranks behind only New York and New Jersey in sports betting handle through June of 2022 — and is second in revenue.

Illinois sports betting handle ranks third in the nation in 2022 behind only New York and New Jersey.

And total Illinois sportsbook revenue trails only New York.

Sports bettors in Illinois wagered over $4.75 billion through the first six months of this year. That compares with the total sports betting handle in New York of nearly $8.6 billion and almost $5.8 billion bet in New Jersey in 2022, respectively.

Total sports betting revenue in Illinois of more than $344 million in 2022 is exceeded only by New York’s revenue of some $608 million and is ahead of New Jersey, which has revenue of some $309 million through the first half of this year.

Illinois handle up 48%, tax revenue up 34% over 2021

This year is also a huge improvement over 2021.

Illinois sports betting participants have bet over $4.75 billion through the first six months of this year. That’s up 47% over the total handle of more than $3.2 billion through the first six months of 2021.

Illinois sports betting revenue is up 34% from more than $256 million in 2021 to more than $344 million in 2022.

Combining state and local taxes, IL sportsbooks produced nearly $55 million in tax revenue in 2022. That’s up 34% from total taxes of more than $41 million through the first six months of 2021.

And yet, Illinois sports betting handle is down 35% since March

All this despite June being the third straight month Illinois sports betting handle declined from March’s record handle in the Prairie State.

In June, Illinois gamblers bet over $628 million on sports.

That’s down:

  • 18% from the more than $764 million in handle during May.
  • 25% from over $839 million bet in April.
  • 35% from the record $971 million wagered in March.

The dog days of summer Illinois sports betting

The declines since March are due, in part, to the limited summer sports schedule.

Without the NFL, NCAA March Madness, NBA, or NHL, sports handle traditionally takes a hit with the MLB as the only major sports league available for betting. With the Chicago Cubs struggling and the White Sox hovering around .500, that will likely impact the handle.

Yet, far and away baseball took in the most betting handle in Illinois with over $222 million bet on it in June. That’s about 35% of the month’s total sports betting handle in Illinois.

Tennis sets Illinois sports betting record

Another bright spot has been betting on tennis.

Illinois gamblers set a monthly record for wagering on tennis in June, betting nearly $87 million. That’s up 23% over the nearly $71 million Illinoisians bet on tennis in May.

Other sports broke down as follows:

SportHandleRevenue
Baseball$222,454,854$6,646,587
Parlay$140,452,430$20,446,221
Tennis$86,809,212$4,443,793
Basketball$68,633,592(642,825)
Other$29,502,506(305,682)
Hockey$25,287,646$2,384,544
Soccer$23,910,269$2,222,453
Golf$16,176,638$1,811,889
Combat$12,370,206$3,157,277
Football$1,775,735$729,110
Racing$1,087,435$88,109
TOTAL$628,459,522$40,981,475

FanDuel, DraftKings took in 64% of the handle

FanDuel and DraftKings were neck-and-neck in June and crushed the competition.

FanDuel Illinois Sportsbook had more than $201 million in handle in June and more than $16 million in revenue. The Illinois DraftKings Sportsbook had handle exceeding $185 million and revenue of nearly $11 million.

Combined, the two operators took in handle of $386 million and revenue of some $27 million. That’s 64% and 69%, respectively, of the total for all operators in June.

The online operator totals were:

OperatorHandleRevenueTax - StateTax - Local
FanDuel$201,255,412$16,238,758$2,493,178$188,014
DraftKings$185,028,918$10,825,714$1,348,090$91,211
BetRivers$60,399,310$4,273,432$712,785$60,535
PointsBet$52,453,333$2,678,315$443,897$28,037
BetMGM$37,565,794$1,640,099$274,636$24,305
Barstool$35,549,144$2,206,965$377,684$26,393
Caesars$32,704,603$1,512,057$209,191$10,962
TOTAL$604,956,513$39,375,340$4,859,460$429,456

Are new records coming this fall?

The summer months might be slower for the gambling industry, but as the third biggest sports betting market, Illinois is primed for a big autumn.

Football is the most popular sport for betting in the US. The NFL’s return will do a lot of good for sports betting numbers.

Photo by Shutterstock
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Dave Briggs

Dave Briggs is a managing editor and writer for Catena Media. His expertise is covering the gambling industry in North America with an emphasis on the casino, sports betting, horse racing and poker sectors. He is currently reporting on the gaming industries in Illinois and Canada.

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