The biggest online sportsbook operators in Illinois have reached the same conclusion about a coming tax increase in the state: their customers will have to share the pain.
Boston-based DraftKings Inc. announced Thursday evening that it will impose a 50-cent “transaction fee” on all online sports bets placed with it in Illinois starting Sept. 1.
The plan is the same as one already announced by rival FanDuel.
Tit for tax
Both coming transaction fees are in response to Illinois lawmakers recently passing a per-bet tax on online sportsbook operators, which kicks in next month.
Under the new tax, the first 20 million bets in a year will cost a mobile bookmaker like DraftKings an extra 25 cents apiece. The levy then goes up to 50 cents per-bet after 20 million wagers.
The new per-bet tax on Illinois sports betting also follows the decision by state lawmakers last year to hike the tax rate on sportsbook revenue to as high as 40% for the likes of DraftKings and FanDuel.
Well, there it is: DraftKings says it will implement a 50-cent transaction fee in Illinois on all online sports wagers starting in September, just as FanDuel is already planning to do. pic.twitter.com/FicZelc5iP
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) June 12, 2025
Should Illinois remove its per-bet tax, DraftKings says it would “immediately” scrap its per-bet fee for customers. FanDuel has said the same.
“Illinois has been an important part of our growth, and we’re proud to have contributed meaningfully to the state through tax revenue, job creation, and a sustained investment in responsible gaming tools and resources,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said in a press release. “We are disappointed that Illinois policymakers have chosen to more than triple our tax rate over the past two years, and we are very concerned about what this will do to the legal, regulated industry. Meanwhile, Illinois continues to fuel the rapidly growing illegal industry, which pays no taxes or fees and provides none of the consumer protections that regulated operators offer.”
DraftKings proposed a surcharge on winning bets last year for higher-cost states such as Illinois, which followed the tax hike on its revenue in the Land of Lincoln.
However, the company killed the idea after receiving feedback from customers — and after FanDuel did not follow suit.
More to come.
