Illinois Sportsbooks Top $1 Billion In Revenue For 2023

The Illinois Gaming Board reported a record $128.4 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue for December on Thursday, which was just enough to make the Land of Lincoln the third state to reach $1 billion in operator winnings for 2023.

It was the second time this year and third time overall Illinois sportsbooks generated at least $100 million in revenue, with December’s figure topping the record of $112.7 million set in October. The sportsbooks cleared $1 billion by less than $2.3 million as Illinois joined New York and New Jersey in that select circle. Operator revenue was up 26.1% compared to the $795 million generated in 2022.

The house had a statewide hold of close to 9.8% in December and finished the year slightly above 8.6%. That was nearly one-half of a percentage point higher than 2022 as the all-time hold is close to 8.1%.

Illinois also became the fourth state to surpass $30 billion in all-time handle along with New Jersey, Nevada, and New York, reaching the benchmark in 44 months. IGB Administrator Marcus Fruchter announced a traditional handle of more than $1.31 billion at Thursday’s board meeting, trailing only the $1.38 billion worth of wagers accepted in November.

Illinois has posted nine $1 billion monthly handles, with six coming in 2023. The $11.62 billion in traditional handle for the 2023 calendar year was up 19.2% compared to 2022.

The state received almost $19.3 million worth of tax receipts in December, pushing the full-year total above $150 million. Cook County, which places a 2% levy on revenue from bets generated within its borders, collected more than $1.25 million in taxes for the month and had an overall inflow of more than $10.6 million into its coffers for 2023.

ESPN BET makes strides

ESPN BET‘s first full month of action in Illinois proved to be a good one as the PENN Entertainment-branded sportsbook finished third among the eight mobile sports betting apps for traditional handle with $96.5 million. It also marked the first time BetRivers, which accepted $88.9 million worth of bets in December, was out of the top three since mobile sports betting launched in June 2020.

ESPN BET’s handle was up 19.1% compared to November while it snared 7.6% of the $1.27 billion mobile market share. It also had a solid month in terms of revenue, collecting more than $8.1 million in winnings in December while crafting an 8.4% hold. ESPN BET had an 8.8% win rate in the final two months of the year in Illinois, claiming $15.6 million in revenue against $177.6 million handle.

FanDuel became the first Illinois mobile book to surpass $50 million in monthly revenue, reaching above $51.5 million while fashioning an 11.8% hold against $439.1 million in completed events handle. DraftKings also had an all-time high for revenue at $42.6 million on the strength of a 9.4% hold on $455.4 million worth of completed events wagers.

Caesars Sportsbook rounded out the top five for handle at $72.6 million, followed by PointsBet ($62.1 million), BetMGM ($52.7 million), and Circa Sports ($9.7 million). BetRivers placed fourth for revenue with more than $7.6 million, but PointsBet was able to pip Caesars to round out the top five, winning close to $5.4 million with an 8.7% hold while Caesars won $4.5 million and had a win rate just shy of $6.2 million.

BetMGM amassed nearly $3.8 million in winnings, and Circa Sports finished with nearly $323,000 with a 3.3% hold. The only new mobile entrant in Illinois in 2023, Circa handled $31.2 million worth of wagers in three-plus months and posted a 1.2% hold to claim nearly $378,000 in winnings.

A monstrous year of parlay wagering

Illinois is among a handful of states that offers handle and revenue figures for parlay wagering, and December closed out a monstrous year of multi-leg wagering in the state. Parlay handle eclipsed $500 million for the first time in state history, and the $3.38 billion in such wagers was more than double the 2022 total of $1.52 billion.

Operator winnings from parlay bets also more than doubled from 2022, finishing just above $599 million as the 17.7% hold for 2023 was six-tenths of a percentage point higher than the previous year. As expected, FanDuel was at the forefront of hammering the public on such bets as it reaped a staggering $38.8 million while laying down a 22.6% hold against $171.7 million handle. FanDuel finished 2023 with a 21.3% hold on parlays, claiming more than $291 million worth of revenue.

DraftKings generated a jaw-dropping, state-record parlay handle of nearly $244.8 million that was almost double its short-lived November high of $125.1 million, but its hold of “only” 12.4% meant it collected $30.2 million in revenue from those bets.

ESPN BET had more than 60% of its revenue come from parlays with $5.1 million in winnings as it notched a 19.3% win rate on $26.4 million worth of wagers. BetRivers, whose $38.6 million in parlay winnings for 2023 was nearly a four-fold increase from 2022, wrapped up the year with $3.9 million in parlay revenue as its hold was just shy of 17%.

PointsBet was the only other operator to clear $2 million in parlay revenue, finishing with close to $2.9 million thanks to an 18.5% win rate from $15.5 million handle. The overall hold for parlays on mobile betting was 16.7%, while the overall hold was 16.8% as retail sportsbooks added almost $2.9 million to that total.

IGB bans certain MLS prop wagering

The IGB unanimously voted 3-0 Thursday to ban prop bets on yellow or red cards being issued to players during Major League Soccer matches and whether cards would be issued at all. The top-flight league of United States soccer sent a letter to the IGB in mid-December with the request, citing integrity issues.

Fruchter issued a temporary suspension of such wagers on Jan. 12, and MLS Vice President of Affairs Abiskar Mitra and MLS Director of Sports Betting Phil Valente appeared in person before the board to present their case. Fruchter noted other states including New York, Massachusetts, and Michigan had prohibitions in place for such wagers, and Mitra stressed that other leagues beyond MLS have been “mindful of this market because it is in one player’s control.”

Mitra provided the board a primer of the ways a player can be issued a yellow card that go beyond the run of play to things such as persistent fouling, time-wasting, or taking off a jersey to celebrate. Additionally, players have knowingly taken a yellow card for a tactical foul that prevents a potential scoring opportunity early in the build-up of play.

Mitra said the league had sent letters making a similar request to 31 other jurisdictions in addition to Illinois, with 18 either having rules in place where it is not an illegal wager or state regulators have been asked to change the rules. After the presentation, Fruchter recommended to the board to ban such bets, which passed.