Illinois Sports Betting Handle Reached $1 Billion Milestone in December

Illinois closed its 2023 fiscal year with its second-highest handle and set a new sports betting revenue record for a single month. Sportsbooks generated $1.3 billion in December, a decrease of 4.5 percent from November. However, they earned $128.4 million, a 76.6 percent increase month over month.

According to bookie per head experts, Illinois has now had a handle of over $1 billion for four months in a row. The house's success in December—a month with a plethora of football and basketball games—resulted in a 9.7 percent hold that was roughly 4.5 percentage points higher than in November.

Approximately $19.3 million was sent to the state by sportsbook operators as taxes, with $1.25 million going to Cook County in Chicago.

Illinois Sports Betting

As of 2023, just three states in the US—Illinois, New York, and New Jersey—had revenues of $1 billion or more. The total amount handled in the Land of Lincoln was $11.6 billion, representing a 19% increase over the previous year. Illinois collected approximately $150 million in tax money annually from sports betting, with an 8.6 percent hold.

According to Price Per Head Sportsbook sources, Illinois was a football mecca in December. With the NFL regular season and college bowl games taking place in the same month, sports brought in $322 million. Basketball was just behind with $319 million.

Since basketball only managed a 4.3% victory rate, football emerged as the most lucrative sport with a 5.2% grip. While more than $35 million was wagered on tennis, $39.1 million was on soccer.

One and a half billion dollars, or nearly all the income, came from online sports betting. By December, DraftKings had a mobile handle of $455 million, giving them an advantage over rival FanDuel in the state. In second place, FanDuel brought in $436.6 million in bets.

While DraftKings brought in $49.5 million, FanDuel brought in $51.5 million, thanks to its 11.8% share. ESPN BET's $96.5 million handling in its first month in Illinois was more than any of its competitors. According to sports betting news reports, BetRivers' $88.9 million in handling placed them fourth. With $72.6 million, Caesars came out on top. Both Fanatics Sportsbook and BetMGM made six figures.

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