Illinois sportsbooks have surpassed another major milestone. October marked the first time Illinois sports betting handle surpassed $1 billion in a single month.
The latest figures were released Thursday by the Illinois Gaming Board.
The October handle of nearly $1.03 billion, exceeded the previous Illinois sports betting handle record of some $971 million set in March of 2022.
It makes Illinois just the fourth state in history to produce a billion-dollar monthly handle from sports betting. Illinois joins New York, New Jersey and Nevada in 10-figure monthly territory.
Illinois ranked a close third in monthly handle in October behind New Jersey ($1.06 billion) and New York (almost $1.6 billion).
Betting on the NFL and the opening of both the NBA and NHL regular seasons were major catalysts behind the record month.
Illinois sports betting handle up 82% since August
In October alone, IL sportsbook handle rose 24% from September’s handle of more than $831.8 million. Meanwhile, September handle was up 47% from handle of $565 million in August.
That means Illinois sports betting handle is up 82% between August and October.
The growth is mostly attributable to a change in legislation.
In March of this year, 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.
IL sportsbook revenue ranked 2nd in US in October
In terms of gross gaming revenue, Illinois was second in the United States with more than $91.5 million. That amount exceeded New Jersey’s revenue by more than $13.5 million. New York was the revenue king in October with $146.8 million.
Revenue is up 10% compared to September ($83.5 million) and 42% when October’s figures are compared to August revenue of $64.6 million.
Year-to-date through October, Illinois remains second in the US in revenue (nearly $628 million) and third in handle (nearly $7.7 billion).
For all of 2022, we strongly believe Illinois will fall just shy of the $10 billion mark in handle.
Illinois sports betting revenue – October 2022
Licensee | Online Brand | Handle | Revenue | Hold | Taxes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Casino Queen East St. Louis | DraftKings | $345,347,638 | $21,268,118 | 6.2% | $4,060,471 |
Fairmount Park | FanDuel | $327,841,505 | $41,624,393 | 12.7% | $7,000,090 |
Rivers Des Plaines | BetRivers | $113,323,649 | $10,628,407 | 9.4% | $1,881,689 |
Hawthorne | PointsBet | $77,823,761 | $5,653,287 | 7.3% | $1,076,757 |
Hollywood Aurora | Barstool | $55,620,306 | $3,724,681 | 6.7% | $764,146 |
Par-A-Dice | BetMGM | $53,624,781 | $4,272,055 | 8.0% | $766,625 |
Grand Victoria | Caesars | $49,141,977 | $3,302,183 | 6.7% | $643,458 |
Argosy | $5,225,926 | $889,959 | 17.0% | $129,763 | |
Hollywood Joliet | $1,610,641 | $206,668 | 12.8% | $27,364 | |
Total | $1,029,560,184 | $91,569,752 | 8.9% | $16,350,363 |
Where Illinois ranks lifetime
With more sportsbooks coming soon to Illinois, the future is bright for the industry.
Lifetime sports betting revenue ranking (through October):
- New Jersey — $2,201,459,940
- Nevada — $1,587,078,000
- Pennsylvania — $1,345,799,232
- Illinois — $1,299,321,673
- New York — $1,116,711,716
Lifetime sports betting handle:
- New Jersey — $31,557,737,759
- Nevada — $27,699,146,038
- Pennsylvania — $17,348,076,595
- Illinois — $16,597,430,747
- New York — $13,455,006,069
Illinois surpassed $200 million in tax revenue from sports betting
In October, IL sportsbooks generated over $16.4 million for state and local coffers. Year-to-date through October, sports betting in Illinois has produced total tax revenue of nearly $99 million. Lifetime, Illinois surpassed $200 million in tax revenue in October. Since sports betting launched in Illinois in June 2019, the total tax revenue now sits at nearly $204 million. Illinois had an effective sportsbook tax rate of 17.9% in October.
Meanwhile, the hold in Illinois was 8.9% in October alone, 8.2% year-to-date and has been 7.8% lifetime.
Sports betting exceeds $170 billion in lifetime handle nationwide
Lifetime, the 26 states that have legal sports betting have produced combined handle exceeding $170 billion through October. Revenue has nearly reached $13 billion and total tax revenue has topped $2 billion.
In 2022 alone, total handle has now exceeded $73 billion. Total revenue this year is more than $5.7 billion. Combined tax revenue has now topped $1 billion for the year, sitting at nearly $1.2 billion.