Illinois now the second largest sports betting market in United States

According to figures from the Illinois Gaming Board, the state took in nearly $565 million in gross gaming revenue in August, about $8 million more than New Jersey. New York led the country with revenue of more than $877 million.

Leading August’s figures in Illinois was FanDuel SportsBook and Horse Racing in Collinsville with a handle, or total wagers, of $180,286,759 and revenue of $21,829,562, generating $3,024,060 in taxes. Second was DraftKings at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis with a handle of $172,220,817, revenue of $22,457,431 and tax generation of $1,944,035. Argosy Casino Alton had a handle of $3,093,388, revenue of $661,406 and tax generation of $81,643. Revenue figures for Illinois in August were up 9% from July and 41% over August 2021. According to PlayIllinois.com, regulated Illinois sportsbooks have produced nearly $175 million in tax revenue for state and local authorities since the industry launched in March 2020. In 2022 alone, through August, tax revenue has reached nearly $70 million.

Dave Briggs from PlayIllinois.com said Illinois' sports betting growth is an impressive feat considering its infancy.

“We are really only talking about going back to March of 2020 when this all started, so to already pass such an established sports betting area as New Jersey, that really shows it's got quite a future,” Briggs said.

Illinois sportsbooks have now exceeded $1 billion in gross gaming revenue for online activity since sports betting began. Ninety-four percent of all sports bets in Illinois have been made online.

Since the beginning of legal sports betting, more than $157 billion in sports wagers have been placed in the United States. Currently, 26 states allow sports betting; Missouri currently does not allow sports wagering. In March an Illinois law allowed residents to sign-up online for sportsbooks, rather than having to do so in-person at one of the state’s land-based casinos.

Briggs said he expects September’s numbers to be impressive.

“We are just talking August numbers, so there was no NFL yet, and when they come in they have to be huge,” Briggs said. “The first week of betting just on the NFL, there were some numbers floating around that it was up substantially in Illinois.”

Illinois sportsbooks have produced nearly $175 million in tax revenue for state and local governments since the industry launched. All tax funds go into a Sports Wagering Fund. On the 25th of each month, any money in that fund in excess of the anticipated monthly expenditures from the fund through the next month are transferred to the Capital Projects Fund.

Briggs said with more sportsbooks coming online in Illinois, the state has a chance to surpass Pennsylvania into third place in terms of lifetime sports betting revenue.