Illinois sportsbooks recorded USD 821.7 million in total bets (betting handle) in May 2023, according to numbers released by Illinois Gaming Board. May’s betting handle is a 7.5% year-over-year increase compared to the USD 764.5 million gambled in May 2022. When it comes to revenue, Illinois sportsbooks exceeded USD 91.5 million, a 40% year-over-year upsurge from the USD 65 million generated in May last year. The number also shows a 12.7% monthly increase compared to April 2023’s USD 81.3 million.
In fact, Illinois has the second-highest handle and revenue for May 2023 in the nation. Once again, Illinois came after New York, which collected over USD 1.36 billion in total bets and more than USD 1.52 million in revenue. New Jersey was third with almost USD 778.9 million in total sports betting handle and USD 82.2 million in revenue.
May 2023 sports betting handle
New York: USD 1.36 billion
Illinois: USD 821.7 million
New Jersey: USD 778.85 million
Nevada: USD 527.21 million
Pennsylvania: USD 495.59 million
May 2023 sports betting revenue
New York: USD 152.64 million
Illinois: USD 91.5 million
New Jersey: USD 82.17 million
Massachusetts: USD 62.07 million
Ohio: USD 57.95 million
In terms of taxes collected throughout the month, Illinois came third with USD 14.4 million, after New York (USD 77.5 million) and Pennsylvania (USD 14.8 million).
Main betting specialists predict that, by the end of the year, Illinois will hold down a solid spot as the second-best sports betting market in the United States, especially with the Circa Sportsbook expected to launch in August 2023 before the NFL season begins.
FanDuel continues to dominate Illinois online sports betting scene
Fairmount Park and its online brand FanDuel led the way, with USD 290 million in completed events handle. The operator generated USD 36.97 million in revenue last month. The runner-up was DraftKings and its licensee Casino Queen in East St. Louis. The operator collected USD 27.3 million in revenue from a little over a USD 262 million handle. BetRivers (Rivers Des Plaines) was third, with a USD 75.7 million betting handle and nearly USD 9.3 million in revenue. Caesars (Grand Victoria) was next, with a handle of USD 65.8 million and USD 4.5 million in revenue. Finally, BetMGM (Par-A-Dice) has USD 4.6 million in revenue from USD 48.1 million in accepted wagers, leaving PointsBet and Barstool behind.
Besides, local sportsbooks had a hold above 10.84% for May, an all-time high for the state. It was only the third time in 37 months of wagering in the Land of Lincoln that the win rate reached double figures, with the previous high being 10.2% in July 2021. Perhaps, the most telling statistic of how well Illinois sportsbooks performed on parlay wagering is that revenue ticked 0.3% higher from April 2023 to nearly USD 51.3 million, despite completed handle dropping 12.6% to USD 218 million. The state’s seven mobile sportsbooks combined to produce a staggering 23.5% hold, claiming close to USD 49.4 million from USD 210.1 million handle.
Illinois’ brick-and-mortar venues also clobbered the betting public, claiming more than USD 3.2 million in gross revenue from a USD 24 million handle for a 13.5% hold. Fairmount Park proved FanDuel can clean up on the retail side as well, as the horse racing venue led all operators with a 21.8% win rate to claim close to USD 325,000. Rivers Casino accounted for more than one-third of the state’s in-person handle with USD 8.9 million and close to half the revenue with USD 1.4 million, good for a 15.5% hold. Hollywood Casino in Joliet and Par-A-Dice in East Peoria were the lone venues with single-digit holds in May 2023, as the latter’s USD 28,132 in revenue with a 5.5% hold nearly erased all of the USD 37,878 loss reported for April 2023.