Illinois Sportsbooks Post $95 M in June Adjusted Gross Revenue

That contributed to a 73% rise in year-over-year AGR and created a hold of 11.2%, an all-time high in 50 months of wagering in Illinois when including the adjusted figure. Handle was just shy of $848 million, a 27.4% increase from June 2023, and year-to-date wagering surpassed $6.5 billion. Illinois will likely finish second nationally to New York for June handle, as only Arizona has yet to report figures for the month.

Revenue was down 6.2% compared to May, while handle declined 16.6% as Illinois’ streak of $1 billion handle ended at nine months. The Land of Lincoln also became the third state to reach $3 billion in sports betting revenue in the post-PASPA era, joining New York and New Jersey.

The state collected $14.2 million in taxes in June and finished Fiscal Year 2024 with $167 million worth of receipts, an increase of $24.7 million versus Fiscal Year 2023. June was the last month the Illinois sports betting tax rate was a flat 15%. The new fiscal year, which began July 1, introduced progressive rates that start at 20% and can reach as high as 40% based on revenue thresholds for each licensee.

Revenue generated in Cook County totaled $57.4 million and provided $1.1 million in taxes for the county based on its 2% levy. The DraftKings Sportsbook adjacent to Wrigley Field provided $1,800 in tax revenue for the City of Chicago, which collected a 2% tax on $91,600 in winnings.

A spokesperson for the Illinois Gaming Board said the adjustment was made by DraftKings for its June figures. Based solely on event wagering, DraftKings claimed $29.7 million in winnings from $322.8 million worth of wagers — good for a 9.2% hold. When including the adjustment, that figure jumps to $38.8 million with a 12.1% win rate.

Technically, FanDuel finished second in both revenue and handle due to the IGB’s adjustment on DraftKings’ revenue total, but the mobile juggernaut maintained its status quo with a 13% win rate against $280.3 million in handle. That resulted in $36.4 million in revenue.

In looking ahead to the new progressive tax structure based on Fiscal Year 2024 figures, both DraftKings and FanDuel would have paid a substantial amount of taxes on revenue at the maximum 40% rate. DraftKings generated $379.2 million in AGR, meaning $179.2 million would have been taxed at 40%, while more than 55% of the $447.9 million FanDuel claimed would have been subject to that levy.

Illinois is one of four states — along with New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont — where DraftKings has announced it will implement a surcharge on winning bets (effective Jan. 1) to recoup some of its potential lost revenue to states that tax above 20%. DraftKings has yet to announce the percentage for that surcharge, but based on their month-by-month revenue totals for the first half of FY 2024, the surcharge would be taking effect when DraftKings enters that top 40% tax bracket.

Fanatics Sportsbook Posts Double-Digit Hold

Fanatics Sportsbook made a strong push for the final podium spot for revenue, but its $4.4 million was $351,000 shy of BetRivers‘ $4.8 million haul. Fanatics did have the second-best hold among Illinois’ eight sportsbook apps at 12% from $41.5 million in handle. BetRivers also claimed the No. 3 spot for handle at $54.9 million, resulting in an 8.8% win rate.

ESPN BET rounded out the top five for revenue at $3.5 million, riding a 9.5% hold from $36.4 million worth of accepted bets, and BetMGM‘s 6.4% hold from $42.5 million in handle resulted in $2.7 million in winnings. Caesars landed at $1.8 million in June revenue after crafting a 4.8% hold from $38.1 million in handle, and mobile bettors came out slightly ahead against Circa Sports — winning $13,300 above the $11.5 million they wagered.

Ain’t No Party Like An Illinois Parlay Party

When broken into events, parlay and same-game parlay wagering topped all handle amounts at $243.3 million, edging the $241.2 million in bets. Operators statewide combined for a 17% hold on multi-leg wagers, resulting in $41.3 million in revenue.

FanDuel, as is almost always the case, made hay with $22.8 million in winnings thanks to a robust 22.7% win rate against $100.7 million in handle. DraftKings edged into eight figures for winnings at $10.7 million, but its hold was only 13% from $82.3 million worth of wagers.

Both BetRivers and Fanatics eclipsed $1.8 million in parlay revenue, with Fanatics posting a slightly better hold at 14.7% to BetRivers’ 14.5%. ESPN BET won $1.5 million from bettors on parlays and fashioned a 17.7% hold from $8.6 million in such wagers. Circa Sports began accepting bets on parlays for the first time since entering Illinois last fall and paid out $52,100 above the $582,200 in accepted wagers, a -9% hold.

When excluding parlays, the biggest source of operator revenue came from baseball at $15.8 million as operators had a 6.6% hold. But the $12.3 million in winnings from basketball was a four-fold increase from last year as the 12% win rate was an all-time monthly high.

Multiple sports treated operators well in June: Soccer revenue totaled just shy of $5 million with a 9.4% hold and was boosted by the European Championship as handle reached $52.9 million. Despite a pedestrian 5.7% win rate in tennis, sportsbooks still came away with $4.6 million.

The hold on hockey wagers reached 12.6% as operators kept $2.7 million of the $21.1 million wagered. But bettors nearly matched that amount in golf winnings, coming out $2.4 million ahead on $26.8 million in handle and hanging a -8.9% win rate on the house. It was the largest monthly loss for sportsbooks on golf in Illinois as five of the eight mobile books finished in the red — DraftKings was socked with a $1.8 million loss and FanDuel paid out $821,000 above tickets written.