Until recently, New Jersey, Nevada and New York were the only states to reach the $25 billion post-PASPA historical handle threshold. Now, the Illinois’ sports betting industry joins the trio after the Illinois Gaming Board reported a total of $676 million in accepted wagers for August.
Illinois Joins the Club
The sports betting industry is thriving in the Land of Lincoln. As the NFL exhibition season and a smattering of early college football regular season games got underway, the handle increased over 10.5% from the previous month.
However, that did not translate into higher revenue numbers as the hold, or win rate, fell to just 6.9% generating $46.9 million in revenue for the month which was a 23.2% decline from July.
Compared to last August, the handle was up over 19.7% but due to the relatively weak hold, year-over-year revenues were down 1.8%, and it was the first time since June 2022 that the hold failed to meet the industry standard of seven percent.
Third In the Nation
Nevertheless, Illinois’ handle was third in the nation trailing only New York and New Jersey, the two perennial leaders in the U.S. sports betting industry. As for the state’s cut, Illinois’ tax coffers swelled by over $7 million in August and Cook County’s 2% tax on sports betting proceeds collected nearly $509,000. Since the inception of sports betting in Illinois, the state has collected over $300 million for its citizens.
DraftKings led all challengers with a $241.3 million handle compared to FanDuel’s $222.6 million but it was the latter that generated the most revenue, $17.3 million, versus DraftKings’ $15.8 million in August due to its higher hold.
Parlay Hold Dips in August
Parlay betting is the gift that keeps on giving to the sportsbooks, not only in Illinois but around the nation, as the low-risk, high-reward nature of the wagers entices bettors to continue to bet them. Winning one bet is tough enough but stringing several individual bets under the umbrella of a single wager and hoping to win them all for a much bigger payout is a tall task.
Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the hold on parlays will be substantially higher than those on flat bets. Although Illinois reported a hold of 13.7% on parlays alone, it was the lowest they had experienced in 18 months.
FanDuel’s parlay hold decreased to 17.6% in August after 13 consecutive months of producing a 20% hold or greater but reported over $67 million in parlay betting which netted the gaming powerhouse $11.8 million in revenue.
The Numbers
The following are the official numbers for August, according to the Illinois Gaming Board.
August 2023 Handle Leaders:
- New York: $1.12 Billion
- New Jersey: $725.8 Million
- Illinois: $676.1 Million
- Nevada: $431 Million
- Pennsylvania: $393 Million
- Ohio: $379.5 Million
- Arizona: $358.9 Million
- Virginia: $319 Million
- Massachusetts: $314.9 Million
- Maryland: $263.7 Million
Illinois Operator Handles in August:
- Casino Queen (DraftKings): $241.7 Million
- Fairmount Park (FanDuel): $217.8 Million
- Midwest Gaming & Entertainment: $70.4 Million
- Elgin Riverboat Resort: $35.7 Million
- Par-A-Dice Gaming: $31.3 Million
- Hawthorne Race Course: $29.6 Million
- HC Aurora: $29.2 Million
- Alton Casino LLC: $1.6 Million
- HC Joliet: $640 Thousand
Illinois August Handle by Sport:
- Baseball: $196.7 Million
- Parlays: $141.6 Million
- Tennis: $92.1 Million
- Soccer: $46.1 Million
- Other: $28.5 Million
- Football: $23 Million
- Basketball: $15.1 Million
- Golf: $11.1 Million
- Boxing/MMA: $9.1 Million
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