Illinois Sets Sports Betting Record, Topping $1 Billion In October

Written By Dave Briggs on December 8, 2022 - Last Updated on December 9, 2022
Betting on the NFL and the opening of the NBA and NHL regular seasons helped Illinois remain second in revenue and third in handle in the US.

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.

infographic illinois sports betting billion dollar state top 5 rankings

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

LicenseeOnline BrandHandleRevenueHoldTaxes
Casino Queen East St. LouisDraftKings$345,347,638$21,268,1186.2%$4,060,471
Fairmount ParkFanDuel$327,841,505$41,624,39312.7%$7,000,090
Rivers Des PlainesBetRivers$113,323,649$10,628,4079.4%$1,881,689
HawthornePointsBet$77,823,761$5,653,2877.3%$1,076,757
Hollywood AuroraBarstool$55,620,306$3,724,6816.7%$764,146
Par-A-DiceBetMGM$53,624,781$4,272,0558.0%$766,625
Grand VictoriaCaesars$49,141,977$3,302,1836.7%$643,458
Argosy$5,225,926$889,95917.0%$129,763
Hollywood Joliet$1,610,641$206,66812.8%$27,364
Total$1,029,560,184$91,569,7528.9%$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):

  1. New Jersey — $2,201,459,940
  2. Nevada — $1,587,078,000
  3. Pennsylvania — $1,345,799,232
  4. Illinois — $1,299,321,673
  5. New York — $1,116,711,716

Lifetime sports betting handle:

  1. New Jersey — $31,557,737,759
  2. Nevada — $27,699,146,038
  3. Pennsylvania — $17,348,076,595
  4. Illinois — $16,597,430,747
  5. 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.

Photo by Shutterstock
Dave Briggs Avatar
Written by
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.

View all posts by Dave Briggs
Privacy Policy