Illinois became the fourth state to surpass $1 billion in sports wagering operator revenue when Illinois Gaming Board Administrator Marcus Fruchter announced Thursday the state’s top-line numbers for July during the state agency meeting.
The nearly $46.1 million claimed by sportsbooks in July was the ninth-highest total in 27 months of wagering since launch in March 2020. Illinois joined New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania as the only states to reach the revenue benchmark in the post-PASPA era and was the fastest to do so, as both New Jersey and Nevada needed 35 months and Pennsylvania required 41.
Illinois again failed to knock New Jersey out of the No. 2 spot for national handle as traditional wagers accepted totaled $516.4 million in July, while the completed events handle was $518.6 million. The traditional handle gap between the two states for July was $15 million, after they were separated by $6.5 million in May and June combined. Handle was down 17.8% compared to June’s $628.5 million but also up nearly 40% versus July 2021.
Operators posted an 8.9% hold, leading to the state receiving $6.9 million in tax receipts for the month’s action. Sports wagering has generated $58.1 million in state taxes for Illinois this year, $14 million ahead of the pace from the first seven months of 2021 as revenue has increased 32.4% year-over-year to $387.3 million.
More than $24 million of operator revenue was generated through wagers in Cook County, which received $481,000 in tax receipts via the 2% tax on revenue from all bets placed within the county. Home to the city of Chicago, Cook County has received $4.2 million in tax revenue for the first seven months of the year.
FD and DK further separating from the field
All-time Top 10 #SportsBetting handles post-PASPA by state (Aug. in CAPS):
1 New Jersey ~$29.1B
2 Nevada $25.57B
3 Pennsylvania $15.54B
4 Illinois $14.17B <-NEW (inc. July)
5 NEW YORK $10.64B
6 INDIANA $8.79B
7 Colorado $7.88B
8 Michigan $6.8B
9 Virginia $5.89B
10 Arizona $5.07B— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 15, 2022
FanDuel and DraftKings were the only mobile books to generate nine-figure handle in July, with FanDuel’s $168.8 million tops and DraftKings totaling $152.2 million. The pair accounted for nearly two-thirds of the $496.1 million worth of online wagers, but BetMGM‘s entrance into Illinois in March appears to have tightened the race for third among the state’s other five mobile options.
BetRivers continued to hold that final podium spot, but its total of $53 million was its lowest since accepting $48.5 million in wagers in July 2020 as the lone mobile book in the state. BetMGM was fifth in handle, just shy of $31 million, while PointsBet squeezed in between the pair at $39.9 million.
Barstool Sportsbook and Caesars Sportsbook rounded out the group at $26.5 million and $24.9 million, respectively. All seven mobile books had month-over-month declines that are typical with July, the slowest month of the sports betting year in term of game inventory.
FanDuel, though, nearly lapped the field in revenue at $18.4 million thanks to a 10.9% win rate. It was the third time in four months it posted a double-digit hold, and FanDuel also moved within $600,000 of $400 million revenue all-time in Illinois.
DraftKings was the only other mobile book to reach eight figures at $10.9 million, though it had a more pedestrian hold of 7%. Despite a 12.3% dip in handle from June, BetRivers was less than $40,000 shy of matching its June revenue total of $4.7 million. PointsBet was a strong fourth in revenue with $4.2 million, aided by a 10.5% hold.
BetMGM, Caesars, and Barstool combined for $6 million in revenue, with only Barstool failing to reach $2 million. The PENN Entertainment-owned book, however, did clear $50 million in revenue since entering the state in March 2021.
The parlay train continues to run smoothly
Parlay revenue comprised nearly half the total amount as operators claimed $21.3 million from $120.2 million in completed events handle for a 17.7% win rate. It was the fifth consecutive month parlay revenue topped $20 million, and it pushed the all-time revenue in the category over $500 million from close to $3 billion handle.
For online parlay wagering, the win rate was 17.8% as the seven books collected nearly $20.8 million. FanDuel was an easy winner in revenue with $10.7 million, sending it over $100 million for the year in parlays. Its 21.1% win rate, though, was third as both PointsBet (23.8%) and Caesars (22.8%) also significantly pounded the public.
DraftKings did not fare badly, collecting $5.2 million while posting a 14.6% hold. PointsBet raked in more than $2.6 million — the only other book to clear $1 million in parlay revenue -—as the Aussie-based book equaled its highest monthly hold in the category. The nearly $835,000 Caesars picked up was a high-water mark since it began offering parlays in March.
BetMGM continues to lag behind the others in parlay win rate, checking in at 6.1% for July as it kept $430,000 from $6.6 million in completed handle. BetRivers had the lowest parlay revenue at $380,000, but it accepted only $2.2 million in such wagers — less than half of Barstool’s $5.1 million, which was second-lowest.
Baseball was the largest revenue generator by sport at $11.6 million, with $202 million wagered. Tennis proved to be a surprising second in handle and revenue at $78.7 million and $5.5 million, respectively. Soccer rounded out the top three sports for handle at $30.4 million, while basketball ($25.9 million) and the catch-all “other” category ($25.5 million) rounded out the top five.
Revenue from the “other” category totaled $2.4 million, approximately $20,000 more than soccer for third place. Revenue from boxing and MMA events was a healthy $1.9 million thanks to a 9.9% hold.
$5B national handle streak ends at 10 months
Running Top 10 #SportsBetting handles 2022 YTD by state (Aug. in CAPS):
1 NEW YORK $10.27B
2 New Jersey $6.31B
3 Illinois $5.27B <-NEW (inc. July)
4 Nevada ~$4.8B
5 Pennsylvania $3.9B
6 Arizona $3.33B
7 Colorado $2.84B
8 INDIANA $2.76B
9 Michigan $2.7B
10 Virginia $2.67B— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) September 15, 2022
The numbers from Illinois closed the July national ledger in which more than $4.5 billion was wagered. While that is a 61.8% year-over-year improvement from the $2.8 billion wagered in 2021, it also ended a 10-month run of $5 billion or greater handle. That streak, which started last September, peaked in January at $9.8 billion and topped $7 billion in seven of those months.
July was also a good month for operators, whose 8.9% hold was second only to May’s 9.1% win rate for the year and ninth-highest overall in 50 months of wagering in the post-PASPA era. Promotional credits totaled just $35.2 million for July, which resulted in an 8.2% hold for adjusted revenue. That is the highest monthly percentage of 2022 and seventh overall.
