Illinois has already established itself among the big hitters when it comes to legal sports betting in the U.S., and the Land of Lincoln solidified that even further by reaching another milestone with a successful July.
The Illinois Gaming Board reported a monthly handle of $611.4 million and adjusted gross revenue of $60.4 million to surpass $2 billion in profits since sports betting went live in 2020. Only New York and New Jersey have accomplished that feat, and Illinois did it by grossing $1 billion in the last year alone.
Illinois sports betting operators combined to pay out $9 million in taxes to the state in July, with Cook County claiming $625,000 from Chicago-area sports betting.
Handle down monthly, up yearly
Even though the final month without football didn’t attract as many betting dollars, the Land of Lincoln finished second in the U.S. behind New York in total handle, which dropped 6.8% from June. Illinois’ all-time handle is closing in on $25 billion after July, with the state getting close to $300 million in taxes collected.
Revenue, however, grew 10.6% month-over-month thanks to the sports betting operators’ hold rising from 8.2% in June to 9.9% in July. Year-over-year, handle is up nearly 20% while revenue jumped 10%.
Online sports betting sites took in 97% of all wagers placed in July and created $58 million of the revenue. Retail contributed a handle of $16.2 million with a revenue of $1.6 million.
FanDuel enjoys 12% hold
While DraftKings posted the highest handle in Illinois for July with a total of $229.9 million, FanDuel — which took in $200.2 million in wagers — had a higher hold of 12% to produce $24.4 million in revenue, about $6 million more than DraftKings.
BetRivers finished third in Land of Lincoln with a handle of $52.2 million and revenue of $5.8 million. Caesars was next in total wagers at $33.2 million while PointsBet and BetMGM both ended the month with handles of around $29 million.
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