Illinois Becomes Third US State to Top $2 Billion in Gross Revenue

The Illinois sports betting market joined some elite company this week when it surpassed $2 billion in gross revenue since its launch in March 2020. Gross revenue is the amount operators have left over after paying out all winning or refunded bets. It can vary significantly from the amount of wagers placed, depending on how often bettors are winning their wagers. 

They join New York and New Jersey as the only two states to pass the milestone, showing how large the industry has become in the Land of Lincoln. The impressive achievement was reached largely thanks to Illinois seeing $1 billion in gross revenue in 2021. They also managed to have $60.4 million in July, a surprising mark considering the NFL had yet to start.

While the revenue and handle were significant in July, the statewide hold was down at 9.9%, putting them in the bottom seven states with legal sports betting. The hold refers to how much sportsbooks hold back for tax purposes. That money is set aside each month and is not supposed to be used to pay out winning bets or other expenses. That could be an issue in the coming months, as that affects how much money the state is seeing.

Fanduel & DraftKings Continues to Lead Industry

DraftKings posted the biggest handle in July at $229.9 million, while FanDuel was close behind at $200.2 million. FanDuel did have the largest hold percentage at 12%. BetRivers finished in a distant third with a $52.2 million handle that month, followed by Caesars at $33.2 million.

Illinois’s sports betting market share is similar to those in other states. FanDuel is currently the largest sportsbook in the US, with DraftKings trailing close behind. After that, there is a massive dropoff with BetMGM and Caesars in third and fourth. This trend has caused several sportsbooks to exit the US market, leading to more wagers for the two industry giants.