Illinoisans expected to bet $300 million on holiday football

Illinoisans will have wagered more than $300 million on football in December, based on wagering data since 2020 when sports betting was first legal in Illinois.

There were many opportunities with the NFL’s Christmas Eve games and more than two dozen college football bowl games between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

That’s around $25 in wagers per person in the state. That’s not including parlay bets, where a person bets on the outcome of multiple games.

Illinois is the second-largest sports betting market in the nation to New York based on revenue numbers from October.

Rampant sports betting comes with a social cost. The Illinois Department of Human Services estimates more than 1 million people in the state have problematic gambling behavior or are at risk of gambling addiction.

Gaming revenue funds Illinois’ Capital Projects Fund. An Illinois Answers Project investigation found $141 million in Rebuild Illinois projects sponsored by Gov. J.B. Pritzker have gone to people with whom he has close ties.

The better bet is to reduce the state’s costs, starting with the public pensions that drive up property taxes and eat 25% of the state budget, so high taxes stop driving out Illinoisans.