The Illinois Gaming Board reported traditional sports wagering handle of $1.03 billion for December on Thursday, marking the third consecutive month it cleared the billion-dollar benchmark.
For the second straight month, the state flirted with breaking the record it set in October. The range in Illinois handle over the last three months has been less than $1.1 million, with December’s figure 1% lower than November’s total. That figure was within $41,000 of October’s total, as Illinois joined New Jersey, Nevada, and New York as the only states to have three consecutive months with $1 billion handles.
Operators combined to claim $82.4 million in adjusted revenue, a sharp fall-off of 15% from November as the 8% win rate was 1.4 percentage points lower. It was, however, more than double the $33.7 million in winnings from December 2021, when the house was limited to a 4.3% hold.
The state received $11.5 million in tax receipts for the month, lifting the 2022 calendar year total to $118.4 million. That was $39.7 million more than 2021 as revenue surged 51.7%, aided by a 38.9% spike in handle to $9.8 billion. Illinois finished a comfortable third nationally for handle, more than $1 billion better than Nevada and trailing only New York ($16.3 billion) and New Jersey ($10.9 billion).
In the national picture, Illinois put commercial U.S. sports wagering in position to clear $10 billion for the second consecutive month. Arizona, which will provide the final 2022 state revenue report, would need handle of at least $511.7 million for the 11-figure total, while accepted wagers of $527.6 million or higher would make November’s $10 billion handle a short-lived record.
Beat rolls on at FanDuel, thanks to parlays
December #SportsBetting numbers 🧵for #Illinois via IGB. 2022 Parlay mini-thread wrap-up:
There were 265 wagers shy of 155 MILLION parlay bets made in IL in 2022. @FDSportsbook accounted for 61.8% of them.
26/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) February 9, 2023
FanDuel continues to be the runaway leader in mobile sportsbook revenue in Illinois thanks in large part to parlay wagering. The online titan ran its streak of overall monthly holds above 10% to six after reaching 10.7% in December and claiming $37.3 million from a record $349.1 million handle for completed events.
The $349 million in traditional handle for December was an all-time high for the state, 1.4% better than November’s $344 million and enough to push FanDuel over $3 billion handle in the state for the calendar year. It also finished with a win rate of 10.9% for the year, totaling $341.1 million in adjusted revenue.
FanDuel’s parlay game in December was again robust, pounding the public with a 24.7% hold to claim $27.3 million from $110.3 million wagered on such plays. It finished with an eye-watering 23.8% win rate on parlays in Illinois for 2022, raking in close to $231.9 million in revenue from $976.1 million handle as nearly 96 million parlay bets were placed.
DraftKings nearly landed on the industry-standard 7% win rate, as it claimed $21.4 million in revenue from $306.5 million in completed events handle. That revenue figure was notably impacted by its $2.9 million payout on a winning parlay placed by “Million Dollar” Marco Piemonte in Week 15 of the NFL season.
It was the second time Piemonte dinged an operator for a seven-figure parlay payday in Illinois, having done the same to PointsBet in September. DraftKings still accrued nearly 50% of its December revenue from parlays, though, with the $10.4 million in winnings from $66.8 million in accepted wagers resulting in a 13.5% hold in that category. For the year, it cleared $104 million in parlay revenue on a 14.7% win rate from $709 million handle and more than 45.7 million bets placed.
FanDuel was the only mobile operator to have a 20% or higher hold, though PointsBet and Barstool Sportsbook both topped 19%. All seven online books had at least $1 million in revenue from parlay wagers, with PointsBet the only one of the other five to clear $2 million.
When including retail wagering, operators finished with $47 million in parlay revenue on $245.7 million in such bets to fashion a 19.1% hold.
In terms of overall traditional handle, PointsBet established a new all-time high at $79.3 million, narrowing the gap between itself and third-place BetRivers ($94.8 million) to under $16 million. BetMGM also set a new benchmark with $59 million, wrapping up its first nine months in the state with $456.2 million in accepted bets.
Caesars Sportsbook also notched a new record at $56.2 million while posting its first back-to-back months of $50 million handle. Barstool brought up the rear at $46.7 million, the second straight month it has finished last among the seven operators for handle.
BetRivers also took the final podium spot for revenue at $7.4 million, while BetMGM and PointsBet rounded out the top five at $4.4 million and $3.3 million, respectively. Barstool did finish ahead of Caesars for sixth in revenue, with its $2.9 million roughly $350,000 better.
Bettors hold their own in single-event picks
December #SportsBetting numbers 🧵for #Illinois via IGB. 2022 vs 2021
Handle: $9,751,204,856 (⬆️38.9%)
Revenue: $796,458,139 (⬆️51.7%)
Win Rate: 8.17% (⬆️0.69 pts — NIIIIIIIIIICE)
Taxes: $118,423,162 (⬆️$39,662,267)28/x #GamblingTwitter
— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) February 9, 2023
When removing parlay wagering from the equation, the betting public limited the house to a 4.5% win rate on $783.7 million handle. While football wagering provided the bulk of the non-parlay revenue with $17.2 million, the hold was under 5.8% from $299.3 million wagered. Basketball revenue was $9.5 million, but the win rate was a soft 3.4%.
The World Cup carrying over into December helped make soccer the third-biggest revenue producer among sports with $4.3 million, as operators had a 6.9% hold on $63.1 million in accepted wagers. Tennis was the fourth and final sport where operators posted a seven-figure revenue haul at $2.7 million. The win rate there was 7.4% on $35.9 million bet.
The public also fared well in hockey wagering, keeping the house in check with a 2.6% win rate and limiting its winnings to under $900,000. The catch-all “other” category was another strong one for bettors, who lost less than $580,000 of the $56.2 million in wagers. The house did fare well in boxing and MMA, keeping $748,000 of $7.6 million bet for a 9.9% hold.
Casino Queen notches first retail revenue win
While no retail sportsbook in Illinois can compete with Rivers in Des Plaines for handle, Casino Queen on the other side of the state near the Missouri border has shown itself to be the primary competitor when it comes to revenue. After becoming the first in-person book besides Rivers to surpass $1 million in February and then setting an all-time high at the venue in October, the DraftKings-powered location topped all brick-and-mortar spots for revenue with just over $1 million thanks to a 19.1% win rate.
It was part of an exceptional fourth quarter for the venue, which claimed $3.5 million with a crushing 20.2% hold on $17.1 million handle. Almost half of its $7.1 million in 2022 revenue came in the final three months, absorbing $450,000 in January losses.
Rivers was a strong second for revenue at $885,000 while pacing all retail books with $14.2 million handle. The 6.2% hold was its lowest since a 5.4% mark in August, but the book just outside Chicago still had a 24.2% year-over-year bump in revenue to $12.5 million.
