The nation’s newest legal sports betting state appears to be impacting the handle totals of its neighbors.
- Kansas and Illinois have posted year-over-year sports betting declines since Missouri’s launch, with Kansas seeing the steepest drops.
- Illinois’ decline has been more modest, influenced by factors like local team performance and new per-bet taxes.
- Nationwide handle trends are flattening, with Missouri’s market entry, taxes, and prediction markets contributing to slowing growth.
Kansas and Illinois have seen year-over-year revenue declines each month since Missouri’s first legal sportsbooks began taking bets Dec. 1. Though there are a host of factors that could impact the declines, the Missouri sports betting launch appears to have had a direct effect on its neighbors to the east and west.
Kansas sees double-digit declines
Kansas sports betting has seen some of the largest year-over-year handle declines of any state since Missouri’s launch.
Sportsbooks’ handle dropped nearly 8% year over year in December 2025 compared to December 2024. That was followed by a 25.7% decline in January and a 12.1% decrease in February.
Nationally, December saw a slight year-over-year handle increase. Full nationwide January and February figures have not yet been reported, but the national changes released so far extrapolate to declines that are not nearly as pronounced as in Kansas.
Kansas year-over-year sports betting handle declines since Missouri's Dec. 1, 2025 sports betting launch:
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) April 1, 2026
Dec 2025: (7.9)%
Jan 2026: (24.7)%
Feb 2026: (12.1)%
Chiefs missing the playoffs played a factor, but Missouri's launch has, presumably, been significant as well
The Kansas City metro was the most supportive of the 2024 ballot measure that legalized mobile and retails sportsbooks in the state. Some Kansas City-area jurisdictions backed the referendum by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, helping the state narrowly pass the proposal by only a few thousand votes out of roughly 3 million cast.
The Kansas City Chiefs likely played a role in the support - and the year-over-year declines.
The 2024 season's AFC champions didn’t qualify for the playoffs in 2025, denying both Kansas and Missouri the betting opportunities in January for what was the most popular (and bet upon) sports team in the region. Missing the Super Bowl in February was presumably a factor in that month’s year-over-year decline as well.
Illinois' drop less pronounced
The physical and cultural links between Missouri and its neighboring state are more pronounced in the Kansas City metro than St. Louis. That could have played a role in the more modest decline in Illinois.
Illinois sports betting reported a 3.4% year-over-year decrease in December 2025 revenue compared to December 2024. That’s along with a 3.9% drop between January 2025 and 2026. (The state hasn’t yet reported February figures.)
As the Chiefs struggled, impacting potential interest in Kansas, the Chicago Bears had one of their strongest seasons in a decade, and their two playoff games were likely a boost to the state handle's bottom line. But Illinois has implemented a per-bet tax that critics say is deterring bettors, which could have, along with Missouri’s launch, been an explanation for the declining handle.
Nationwide trends
Though Kansas and Illinois saw disproportionately large handle falls, these figures are somewhat aligned with nationwide trends.
After a slight year-over-year bump in December, bolstered in large part by $538 million in first-month handle from Missouri, U.S. sports betting is on pace to fall in January 2026 compared to January 2025. February numbers are still coming in, but that month could also see a year-over-year decline.
This comes after rapid month-over-month as well as year-over-year expansion in each 12-month period since legal sports betting outside Nevada was permitted in May 2018.
The growth of prediction market sports event contracts have been attributed to the decline in sportsbook handle. Leading sports betting operators including FanDuel have said their growing profit margins have impacted customers’ ability to afford placing bets, hurting handle figures. Tax increases, such as those in Illinois, as well as lower limits to federal sports betting tax deductions have also been linked to the drop.
These are likely among the factors that are impacting nationwide handle changes.
