Sports betting in Illinois had a record handle of $840.4 million in October, with operators collectively generating a record $48.3 million in revenue, according to data from the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB).
Most of October’s record handle — $803.4 million — came from online betting, while retail sportsbooks operating within the state’s riverboat and land-based casinos and horse tracks generated the remaining $37 million, IGB data show. October’s total handle marked a month-to-month increase of 40.9% (from $596.5 million) and a year-to-year increase of 93.4% ($434.6 million).
Broken down by sport, wagers on football totaled $330.1 million, while basketball was a distant second at $93.3 million, and baseball was third with $77.6 million. Parlay bets totaled $188.7 million.
After subtracting payouts, operators made $6.4 million in revenue from betting on football, compared to $6.1 million for baseball, $3.3 million for basketball, and $24.5 million for parlay bets.
Although IGB does not differentiate between college and professional in its revenue reporting by sport, the agency did report that $712.6 million of October’s handle was from betting on professional sports while $127.3 million came from college sports. Another $500k came from motor races.
Top Books: BetRivers, DraftKings, FanDuel
BetRivers Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, and FanDuel Sportsbook continued to dominate the vertical in October, much as they have for the entire year and the latter half of 2020, when the market started to get off the ground.
DraftKings saw the highest total handle in October at $315.3 million, but revenue for the month was $11.7 million, up from $8 million in September. By comparison, FanDuel had $22.3 million in revenue (up from $18 million in September) from a $236.7 million handle. BetRivers was third in both metrics, with $8 million in revenue (down from $9.3 million in September) from a $135.7 million handle.
Penn National’s Barstool Sportsbook took $69.8 million in bets in October but revenue was $2.4 million, compared to $2.8 million in revenue for PointsBet Sportsbook, which had a handle of $62.4 million. Caesars Sportsbook took $14 million in bets and made $594k in revenue. All three books fared better the month prior — Barstool made $4.2 million in September, while PointsBet generated $3.6 million and Caesars made $595k.
Most Riverboats Have Sportsbooks Currently
IGB has awarded provisional sports betting licenses to two horse tracks: Fairmount Park Racetrack in Collinsville and Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney. While Fairmount Park partnered with FanDuel for a sportsbook, Hawthorne teamed up with PointsBet.
Six riverboat casinos have also been awarded provisional sports betting licenses by the IGB:
- Argosy Casino Alton (Barstool Sportsbook)
- Casino Queen, in East St. Louis (DraftKings)
- Grand Victoria Casino, in Elgin (Caesars)
- Hollywood Casino Aurora (Barstool)
- Hollywood Casino Joliet (Barstool)
- Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino, in East Peoria (FanDuel)
Rivers Casino Des Plaines, a land-based casino built above a few inches of water in order to comply with Illinois law governing riverboat gambling, also has a sports betting license.
Seven of the nine sports betting licenses issued by the IGB were awarded in June 2020. Hawthorne received its license in July 2020 while Fairmount Park got its license three months later.
Two riverboats — Harrah’s Joliet Casino & Hotel and Harrah’s Metropolis Casino — have not yet been awarded licenses. Neither has Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel, a land-based casino in Rock Island.
While Bally’s is likely to bring its Bally Bet Sportsbook to the Quad Cities, Score Media and Gaming entered into a 10-year agreement in March with Caesars to provide its sportsbook, theScore Bet, at Harrah’s Joliet.
IGB’s website lists two operators, BetMGM and Unibet, as applicants for a management services provider license from the regulator. BetMGM applied for its license in September 2020, while Unibet applied in November 2020.
In 2020, retail sports betting went live in Illinois on March 9, but was suspended one week later due to the pandemic. Retail sports betting resumed on July 1 of that year, while online sports betting went live on June 18, 2020.
