Football’s Absence Drops Illinois Sports Betting Below A Billion

Illinois sportsbooks failed to reach $1 billion in sports betting handle for the first time in five months, largely due to a lack of football betting opportunities.

Despite this, Illinois had a remarkable month, maintaining its position as a national frontrunner. In February, Illinois recorded a handle of $875.4 million, positioning it as the second-highest in the United States, only surpassed by New York’s $1.47 billion, but ahead of New Jersey’s $847.4 million, Nevada’s $659.4 million, and Ohio’s $639.8 million.

The Illinois Gaming Board released the numbers for February late last week.

Before February, Illinois had a four-month run of handling over $1 billion each month. This achievement made Illinois the fourth state, following New York, New Jersey, and Nevada, to maintain a billion-dollar handle for four successive months.

Lack of football betting brings end to billion-dollar streak

However, when you take into account the popularity of football betting, the decline in Illinois’ February makes sense.

Play Illinois conducted an analysis of the betting figures, revealing that almost $300 million was wagered by Illinois residents on football, encompassing both college and professional games, in December. The number decreased to $214.5 million in January, owing to fewer college bowl games and a series of NFL playoff games. The betting amount dropped significantly to $47.8 million in February, with the Super Bowl being the only football event offered on February 12.

This explains the significant difference between February’s tally of $875.4 million and January’s record-breaking total of $1.07 billion.

Over the last five months in Illinois, handle:

• February — $875.4 million
• January — $1.07 billion
• December — $1.029 billion
• November — $1.03 billion
• October — $1.03 billion

The gap in football betting between January and February in Illinois was $166.7 million. If this amount was added to the total sports betting figure for February, which stood at $875.4 million, the total would have exceeded $1.04 billion.

This implies that if the number of football betting opportunities in February had been equal to January’s, assuming a consistent betting level, Illinois could have recorded its fifth consecutive billion-dollar month. It could also have been the second most lucrative month in the history of Illinois sports betting.

When the figures for March are released, Illinois is anticipated to move closer to $1 billion in handle, thanks to betting on March Madness. In 2022, a combined total of $286.2 million was wagered on the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments by Illinoisans.

Super Bowl betting in Illinois down 21% from 2022

Examining the football statistics in more detail can provide us with an estimate of the amount wagered on the Super Bowl in Illinois. The IGB did not disclose the actual numbers this year, but it’s reasonable to presume that all of the $47.8 million was staked on that single game, considering there were hardly any other football games played during that month.

The IGB reported that the $60.5 million bet on the 2022 Super Bowl is down by 21%. However, the total for 2023 has slightly increased from the $45.6 million wagered on the 2021 Super Bowl.

Illinois sports betting handle up 29% over February 2022

Although it didn’t reach a billion dollars in handle in February, that was likely an ambitious goal.

Sportsbooks in Illinois recorded $679.4 million in bets in February 2022. However, this February saw a 29% year-over-year increase, with a total of $875.4 million.

There’s a valid reason for that.

The legislation enacted in March 2022 permits residents of Illinois to register for sportsbooks online, instead of at a physical casino within the state. This decision to enable online registration with any of the seven legal sportsbooks in the state has proven beneficial for the industry.

Illinois through the first two months of 2023

In February, Illinois generated over $63 million in revenue, a decrease of 24% from January. The state gathered nearly $11 million in taxes, marking a 29% drop from the previous month. The hold for the month was 7.2%, lower than January’s 8.3%.

This implies that the total figures for Illinois for the first two months of 2023 are:

• Handle of $1.945 billion
• Nearly $152 million in revenue
• Taxes of $26.4 million

Licensee	Online Brand	Handle	Revenue	Hold	Taxes
Fairmount Park	FanDuel	$307,217,253	$33,461,233	10.9%	$5,406,172
Casino Queen East St. Louis	DraftKings	$278,866,173	$16,347,502	5.9%	$2,974,534
Rivers Des Plaines	BetRivers	$91,472,309	$5,643,295	6.2%	$995,522
Grand Victoria	Caesars	$54,935,471	$994,358	1.8%	$199,510
Hawthorne	PointsBet	$53,446,908	$3,830,102	7.2%	$713,158
Par-A-Dice	BetMGM	$50,075,114	$2,099,727	4.2%	$394,437
Hollywood Aurora	Barstool	$34,947,453	$760,443	2.2%	$259,096
Argosy		$3,239,894	-$35,709	-1.1%	$0
Hollywood Joliet		$1,187,212	$196,959	16.6%	$24,865
Total		$875,387,789	$63,297,910	7.2%	$10,967,295

Illinois officially over $20 billion lifetime

Additionally, it’s noteworthy that as of February, Illinois has officially exceeded a lifetime sports betting handle of $20 billion.

In January, Illinois surpassed Pennsylvania to become third in the lifetime sports betting handle, having over $19.7 billion wagered on sports. The January figures for Illinois also helped push the total lifetime sports betting handle in the United States over the $200 billion mark.

As of now, IL sportsbooks have generated a handle of over $20.6 billion.

Throughout the entire year of 2022, the sports betting handle in Illinois amounted to precisely $9,751,301,251. In terms of sportsbook handle, Illinois was the third highest state in 2022, trailing behind New York, which exceeded $16.2 billion, and New Jersey, which nearly reached $11 billion.