Illinois Earns Yearly Sports Betting Growth in June

The Land of Lincoln is finally out with their June revenue figures for Illinois and its retail partners. The Illinois Gaming Board gaming report revealed a typical and expected month-over-month summer sports wagering slowdown, but year-over-year growth, something that only the state of New York experienced in June.

Illinois sports betting leapfrogged New Jersey as the second most successful legal sports betting jurisdiction in the country just a four months ago, and despite a dip in overall wagering activity in the state, was able to maintain their silver medal position in terms of monthly handle. They did slip to third in terms of state-wide revenues for their sports betting providers.

Keep an eye out for Illinois sportsbook promos ahead of the upcoming football season.

How much was bet in Illinois in June

Illinois bettors wagered a total of $666.8 million with their best sports betting apps and retail providers in June. It is a 19% month-over-month drop from the $821.7 million in bets taken in during May and over $400 million off the $1.072 million record the state posted in March.

$666.8 million put Illinois second in the nation for June sports betting handle behind the $1.17 billion in New York.

However, it isn't all bad news coming out of the Illinois legal sports betting scene. Year-over-year sports betting activity in the Land of Lincoln is up 5.9% from the $628.5 million reported in June 2022.

Revenues follow same pattern

The state’s best sportsbooks revenue followed a similar pattern to the overall handle, which was month-over-month drops but year-over-year increases. 

A total of $52.2 million in sports wagering revenue was reported for Illinois sportsbooks in June. It represents a 38.6% month-over-month drop from the $95.1 million in profits seen in May, but a nice year-over-year 33.6% spike in provider profits from the nearly $41 million reported in June 2022.

We can blame both the lighter sports betting menu in June for the drop off in both sports betting handle and revenues. But another glaring factor came into play when assessing the Illinois legal sports betting trends - hold rate.

Illinois experienced a month-over-month 2.2% drop in hold rate for their sports betting providers, leading to the larger dip in overall revenues from May. On the flip side, June 2022 saw only a 6.5% win rate for its best sportsbooks as opposed to the 7.9% in June 2023, and it, along with lower handle totals last year at this time led to sportsbook profits being higher in June 2023 than in 2022.

Taxes paid to Illinois state and local coffers came in at $8.86 million in June - a healthy drop from the $14.348 million in May, but third most of any sports betting jurisdiction in America.

Year-to-date figures

Illinois, after the first six months of 2023 has been able to maintain a top-three spot in all three of the important reporting metrics such as handle, revenues, and taxes collected.

From January to the end of June, Illinois betting sites took in just over $5.4 billion, which is second best in the country behind just New York that saw a staggering $9.4 billion flow through its best sportsbooks through the first six months of the year. It ranks just ahead of New Jersey's $5.2 billion.

In terms of year-to-date revenues, the $484.5 million in profits the Land of Lincoln sportsbooks have enjoyed ranks third in the nation, behind New York's $818 million and Ohio's $542 million.

As far as taxes collected, Illinois ranked third through the first six months of 2023. Land of Lincoln state and local coffers have collected $80 million in taxes, which is behind New York's $416 million and Pennsylvania's $84.4 million.

DraftKings tops handle race

To nobody's surprise, it was the two top dogs in the American legal sports betting industry that were Illinois' best sportsbook performers in June.

DraftKings was the top Illinois sports betting app, taking in $228.7 million in bets, but was second in terms of revenues with $16.9 million.

FanDuel was second with respect to handle in Illinois in June with $221.4 million in bets but was tops in terms of revenues thanks to a state-best 9.7% hold. FanDuel revenues for June were reported to be at $21.5 million.

BetRivers was third with a $55.7 million June handle and $5.1 million in revenues, Caesars was fourth with $45.9 million in bets and $2.6 million in revenue, and PointsBet was fifth with $41 million in wagers and $2.4 million in revenues.