March Madness Drives Illinois Sports Betting To Record Month, 2nd In The Nation

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Written By Dave Briggs on May 12, 2023 – Last Updated on May 16, 2023

March saw a surge in sports betting activity in Illinois, thanks to the popularity of betting on the men’s and women’s March Madness tournaments.

In March, Illinois sportsbooks reported over $1 billion in total bets, marking the fifth month in the last six that the state has reached this milestone. The exact handle of $1,072,701,361 slightly exceeded the previous record of $1,070,033,292 set in January 2023, as announced by the Illinois Gaming Board.

Illinois moved up to the second spot nationally in total bets and revenue for March due to the increased totals.

Illinois ranked second in the US for total handle in March, behind only New York which saw bets totaling nearly $1.8 million. New Jersey came in third with a total handle of $1,025,779,225.

Illinois brought in close to $107.5 million in revenue, second only to New York which made over $163.5 million.

Illinois ranked third in sports betting tax collections in March at over $15.6 million, with New York leading the nation at over $83 million and Pennsylvania coming in second at over $18.2 million. The effective tax rates on sports betting in these states are 50.8% in New York, 27.4% in Pennsylvania, and 14.6% in Illinois.

March Madness was a huge factor in sports betting in Illinois

The Illinois Gaming Board did not provide exact betting numbers for this year’s March Madness, but they did announce that in 2022, residents of Illinois wagered a total of $286.2 million on the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments.

The increase in handle between February and March in Illinois is largely due to a significant amount of betting on the NCAA tournaments this year. In February, the only major NFL event was the Super Bowl, leading to a total handle of $875.4 million for Illinois sportsbooks. However, with the addition of March Madness tournament bets and the exclusion of Super Bowl wagers, it is evident how Illinois was able to achieve a record-setting month in March.

However, February was an exceptional month for Illinois as it ranked second in the United States in terms of handle, surpassed only by New York with $1.47 billion. Illinois was ahead of New Jersey, Nevada, and Ohio with $847.4 million, $659.4 million, and $639.8 million respectively.

Illinois successfully managed to handle over $1 billion each month for four consecutive months before February. This accomplishment placed Illinois as the fourth state to achieve this feat, along with New York, New Jersey, and Nevada.

In March 2023, the revenue generated from sports betting in Illinois was reported.

Licensee	Online Brand	Handle	Revenue	Hold	Taxes
Fairmount Park	FanDuel	$372,452,513	$43,077,323	11.6%	$6,492,015
Casino Queen East St. Louis	DraftKings	$334,935,998	$31,330,487	9.4%	$4,452,582
Rivers Des Plaines	BetRivers	$110,047,880	$10,667,971	9.7%	$1,553,118
Grand Victoria	Caesars	$79,824,566	$5,611,330	7.0%	$676,193
Hawthorne	PointsBet	$60,651,638	$6,864,533	11.3%	$1,045,771
Par-A-Dice	BetMGM	$58,859,763	$5,271,073	9.0%	$782,209
Hollywood Aurora	Barstool	$50,494,577	$3,827,788	7.6%	$583,039
Argosy		$3,895,597	$568,491	14.6%	$46,209
Hollywood Joliet		$1,538,829	$204,418	13.3%	$19,849
Total		$1,072,701,361	$107,423,414	10.0%	$15,650,984

March 2023

Handle

The state of New York has $1,792,885,345, Illinois has $1,072,701,361, New Jersey has $1,025,779,225, Nevada has $829,842,964, and Ohio has $738,613,175 in funds.

Revenue

The states with the highest amounts of funding are New York with $163,582,116, Illinois with $107,423,414, Ohio with $95,313,123, New Jersey with $93,039,999, and Pennsylvania with $66,465,774.

Taxes

The states with the highest revenue are New York with $83,117,519, Pennsylvania with $18,232,293, Illinois with $15,650,984, New Jersey with $13,083,369, and Ohio with $9,551,057.

Illinois one of only two states showing sports betting growth

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

New Jersey, which is closely ranked with Illinois, is showing signs of cooling off.

According to Play Illinois, Illinois is expected to become the second largest sports betting market in the country by the end of the year, driven in part by the upcoming launch of the Circa Sportsbook before the start of the NFL season.

During the first quarter of the year, Illinois ranks second in handle with over $3 billion, coming in behind New York which has $5 billion. Illinois also holds the second spot in revenue with $259 million, trailing New York at $422 million. Looking ahead to 2023, Illinois is expected to be third in taxes with $42 million, falling behind New York with over $214 million and Pennsylvania with $48 million.

Illinois reported a handle of more than $971 million (3rd place), revenue of nearly $79.5 million (2nd place), and tax collection surpassing $9.7 million (3rd place) in March 2022.

Illinois placed fourth in handle, second in revenue, and second in taxes from January to March 2022, with over $2.5 billion, nearly $170 million, and over $26 million respectively.

In March 2022, a new law was passed in Illinois allowing residents to register for sportsbooks online, rather than being required to register at a physical casino. This change has greatly boosted the sports betting industry in the state, as individuals can now easily sign up with any of the seven legal sportsbooks available.

Rankings as of March 2023:

Handle

New York has a total of $5,066,233,643, Illinois has $3,018,122,442, New Jersey has $2,955,417,869, Ohio has $2,492,510,467, and Nevada has $2,424,715,059.

Revenue

New York has $421,939,700 in funding, Illinois has $259,273,388, Ohio has $387,230,074, New Jersey has $219,991,658, and Pennsylvania has $186,662,345.

Taxes

New York — $214,614,106
Pennsylvania — $47,925,302
Illinois — $42,028,932
Ohio — $38,779,419
New Jersey — $31,237,403

Illinois third in lifetime sports betting with over $21.6 billion lifetime

Illinois hit a milestone in February by surpassing $20 billion in lifetime sports betting handle. With the latest figures from March, the total amount wagered has now exceeded $21.6 billion.

Illinois overtook Pennsylvania in January to become the third highest state for lifetime sports betting handle, with over $19.7 billion wagered on sports. The January numbers from Illinois also contributed to the total lifetime sports betting handle in the United States surpassing $200 billion.

Illinois remains the third highest state in total sports bets, trailing behind New Jersey ($36.7 billion) and Nevada ($32 billion). New York is gaining ground and is expected to surpass Illinois in the next one to two months.