Illinois Sportsbooks Rank 2nd In The USA, Surpass $1 Billion In Online Bets

The remarkable expansion of the sports betting industry in Illinois continues without interruption.

Based on August’s figures released today by the Illinois Gaming Board, Illinois has now become the second-largest sports betting market in the United States, overtaking New Jersey.

In August, nearly $565 million was accumulated in handle by the Prairie State, surpassing New Jersey by $8 million. New York remains the national leader, having generated over $877 million in revenue through August.

In a year-over-year comparison, there was a 41% increase in Illinois’s August figures.

Primarily for Illinois residents, legalized and regulated sportsbooks in Illinois have generated close to $175 million in tax revenue for state and local governments since their inception in March 2020. From January to August 2022 alone, the tax revenue has approached nearly $70 million.

So far this year, Illinois sportsbooks occupy the third position in terms of gross gaming revenue (almost $453 million), trailing behind New Jersey ($517 million) and New York (over $926 million). It should be noted that both New Jersey and New York have already declared their September figures.

So far this year, Illinois ranks third in the nation for total sports betting, with over $5.8 billion wagered. This places it behind New Jersey, with $7.7 billion bet, and New York, leading with $11.5 billion.

Illinois online sportsbooks have now exceeded $1 billion

In August, the Prairie State also achieved a significant milestone in sports betting.

Since sports betting was launched 29 months ago, Illinois sportsbooks have now surpassed $1 billion in gross gaming revenue from online activity alone. Just a month earlier, in July, the gross betting revenue from Illinois sportsbooks – combining both physical and online sports betting – exceeded $1 billion lifetime.

The change in legislation is largely responsible for the growth.

This year in March, a law was enacted that permitted residents of Illinois to register for sportsbooks online, instead of having to do so at a physical casino within the state. This decision to let inhabitants register online with any of the seven legal sportsbooks in the state has proven to be greatly beneficial for the industry.

Illinois sports betting revenue – August 2022

Licensee	Online Brand	Handle	Revenue	Hold	Taxes
Fairmount Park	FanDuel	$180,286,759	$21,829,562	12.1%	$3,024,060
Casino Queen East St. Louis	DraftKings	$172,220,817	$22,457,431	13%	$1,944,035
Rivers Des Plaines	BetRivers	$74,214,992	$6,990,176	9.4%	$966,590
Hawthorne	PointsBet	$39,797,880	$4,715,669	11.8%	$659,019
Par-A-Dice	BetMGM	$34,549,556	$2,867,851	8.3%	$395,790
Hollywood Aurora	Barstool	$30,368,583	$1,953,561	6.4%	$315,064
Grand Victoria	Caesars	$29,639,967	$3,015,069	10.2%	$296,276
Argosy	Unibet	$3,093,388	$661,406	21.4%	$81,643
Hollywood Joliet		$665,467	$137,874	20.7%	$12,371
Total		$564,837,409	$64,628,599	11.4%	$7,694,847

94% of IL sports bets have been made online

Sportsbooks in Lifetime, IL have generated a total revenue of $1,124,218,121. Of this total, online bets have produced $1,057,603,575, accounting for 94% of all sports bets in Illinois. On the other hand, physical sportsbooks have brought in just over $66 million in total.

The future seems promising for the sports betting industry in Illinois with the influx of more sportsbooks. The Prairie State is on the verge of bypassing Pennsylvania to take the third spot in lifetime sports betting earnings.

Ranking of lifetime sports betting revenue:

New Jersey has $2,123,552,899, Nevada has $1,459,590,000, Pennsylvania has $1,284,279,656, Illinois has $1,124,218,121, and New York has $968,158,801.

Lifetime sports betting handle:

1. New Jersey — $30,497,224
2. Nevada — $25,969,625,229
3. Pennsylvania — $16,550,851,863
4. Illinois — $14,736,064,573
5. New York — $11,891,105,476

Sports betting exceeds $60 billion in handle nationwide in 2022

In 2022, the 26 states where sports betting is legal have collectively generated over $60 billion in handle to date, with some states already reporting September figures and one yet to report August’s. The total revenue from sports betting in the US this year exceeds $4.5 billion.

Over $157 billion has been wagered in the United States since the inception of legal sports betting. The all-time revenue from sports betting is on the verge of reaching $12 billion.