- Illinois generated $1.03 billion worth of sports bets during the month of October 2022.
- The Prairie State ranked 3rd among all U.S. states in the latest sports betting handle ranking.
- Illinois sportsbooks have written nearly $17 million in sports bets since legal sports betting launched on March 9, 2020.
Illinois cemented itself as one of the biggest sports betting markets in the United States by hitting the $1 billion mark in betting handle during the month of October.
According to a report from the Illinois Gaming Board, the state wrote a total of $1.03 billion in sports bets last October, its highest ever. It also made Illinois the fourth state, after New York, New Jersey, and Nevada to surpass $1 billion in handle during a single month.
The state’s October handle is also the 18th highest in the U.S. sports betting industry since the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was repealed and the 20th time that a U.S. state has reported at least $1 billion in monthly betting handle.
The Prairie State also recorded a monthly adjusted revenue of $102.1 million, making it the third state to post a nine-digit monthly revenue along with New Jersey and New York. The October revenue was also the 8th highest total ever in the post-PASPA era for any state and the 9th over $100 million all-time.
Illinois Moves to Third in Latest Top 10 U.S. States in Sports Betting Handle
Top 10 U.S. states in sports betting handle, Oct. 2022 (of states reporting so far):
1. New York: $1.56 BILLION
2. New Jersey: $1.06B
3. Illinois: $1.03B
4. Nevada $921.5M
5. PA: $797M
6. Virginia: $528M
7. CO: $526.6M
8. Michigan: $504M
9. Indiana: $446M
10. Tennessee: $405M— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) December 8, 2022
For October 2022, Illinois ranked third nationwide with only New York’s $1.56 billion and New Jersey’s $1.06 billion better. Meanwhile, Nevada was pushed to fourth with $921 million while Pennsylvania completed the Top 5 state handles with $729.5 million.
Illinois’ October figures represent a 22.5% increase year-over-year over the $840.4 million wagered in October 2021. The state’s sportsbooks have written a total of $7.7 billion worth of bets through October 2022, more than the total amount of wagers placed during the entire year of 2021.
The previous monthly all-time high for Illinois was its $971.3 million handle last March. That figure was aided by the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and with BetMGM launching operations as the state’s 7th and most recent online sports betting operator.
Last month’s numbers were boosted mainly due to a full month of NFL schedule. Football was the most bet sport in the state with a total of $358 million worth of wagers written. Basketball was next with $114 million in handle while tennis ranked third with $85 million worth of bets.
Illinois Legalized SportsBetting in 2019
Illinois legalizes sports betting, expands casino gambling https://t.co/1axXusXvOr #apostas #loterias #cassino pic.twitter.com/1o3ttkGyEA
— GamesMagazine Brasil (@GamesBras) June 4, 2019
Sports betting was legalized as part of a massive gambling expansion signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2019. Illinois launched its legal sports betting market on March 9, 2020, just before COVID-19 struck, with Chicago Blackhawks star Eddie Olczyk placing the first legal wager in the state. That bet, staked $100 on the Chicago White Sox to win the AL Pennant in 2020 at 16-1 odds.
Including that bet, nearly $17 billion has been wagered across sportsbooks in Illinois and over $204 million has been collected as tax revenues. During that span, the state’s 12 sportsbooks have netted close to $1.3 billion while generating close to $190 million in tax revenues.
Government officials and industry experts are hoping that the market continues to boom with new sportsbooks being earmarked for Chicago’s major sports stadiums and the state continues to accept internet-only sports betting licenses.
According to industry experts, nearly one in five U.S. adults say that they have placed at least one sports bet over the past 12 months. That’s despite sports betting is still not legal in 15 U.S. states. Per Pew Research, sports betting is more prominent in U.S. men (24%) than women (15%) and adults under 50 years old (22%) than people over 50 (17%).
