The Land of Lincoln kicked off the New Year by breaking the revenue record set during the previous month.
The Illinois Gaming Board recently reported January figures with revenue of $134.9 million, the highest profits in the state’s 45-month sports betting history. Illinois sportsbook operators saw a 5% rise in revenue to surpass the previous mark of $128.4 million set in December 2023.
The Land of Lincoln generated $1.3 billion wagered, the third-highest of all-time and the fifth consecutive billion-dollar handle by the state.
The hold of 10.4% rose slightly from the 9.7% in December and represents the state’s second-best-ever win rate.
January’s handle was up 20.2% from the same month in 2024 while revenue jumped 40.8%.
Illinois filled its coffers with nearly $20.3 million in tax revenue while Chicago’s Cook County received $1.36 million.
Powerful pigskin
Football was very good to Illinois sportsbook operators in January. The sport produced revenue of $22.2 million on a $249.3 million handle, which was down 22.6% month-over-month but good enough for an impressive 9.1% hold.
Basketball saw more than double the handle with $449.9 million but only brought in $14.7 million of revenue.
FanDuel
Table on the top 4 online operators in the state, listed in order of most handle:
| Operator | Revenue | Handle |
|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | $436.1 million | $59.4 million |
| DraftKings | $446.1 million | $44.2 million |
| ESPN Bet | $93.3 million | $3.6 million |
| BetRivers | $85 million | $8.4 million |
When a U.S. state sets new revenue records, one of the top two online sportsbook operators generally follows the theme. That was FanDuel in January, which set an all-time high revenue of $59.4 million and enjoyed a 13.4% hold for the month.
DraftKings generated the Land of Lincoln’s highest handle with $446.1 million and benefited from a hold of just under 10%.
ESPN BET and BetRivers were the next closet operators to $100 million handles while Casars and BetMGM weren’t far behind with wagers of over $60 million each.
Rivers dominates retail
Retail sportsbooks accounted for $37.4 million of the total handle with revenue of $3.2 million for brick-and-mortar shops on a hold of 8%.
Rivers Casino recorded a retail-high handle of $13.7 million in January while DraftKings at Casino Queen produced $6.2 million in wagers.
