Illinois Eclipses $1 Billion In Sports Betting Revenue For 2023

Illinois sports betting sites hauled in more than $1 billion in wagers in the 2023 calendar year, according to the state's December revenue report.

James Bisson

Last updated: February 13, 2024 7:56 PM EST • 3 min read

The Illinois Gaming Board is out with its December revenue report, which revealed a new record and a number of milestones for Illinois sports betting in 2023.

According to the report, Illinois sports betting apps and the state's retail providers combined to report record monthly revenues in December, no doubt aided by the many Illinois sportsbook promos offered during one of the busiest seasons of the sports calendar.

That revenue haul allowed the state to eclipse the $1 billion mark for gross sports betting revenues for 2023, behind only the robust markets established with New York sports betting and New Jersey sports betting.

December also saw Illinois report its second-best month ever in terms of overall handle for our best sports betting sites. December sports wagering activity took Illinois over the $30 billion lifetime handle mark - making the Land of Lincoln just the fourth state to reach that mark, along with New Jersey, Nevada, and New York.

Illinois records $1.31 billion in December handle

Illinois' top sports betting sites and retail sportsbooks accepted $1.31 billion in December wagers. That represented the second-best sports betting month ever for state providers, trailing only $1.38 million reported in a record-setting November.

That $1.31 billion figure is narrowly better than the $1.03 billion reported by the state for December 2022. It's also the sixth time in 2023 that Illinois surpassed the $1 billion monthly handle mark, and it took the yearlong handle to $11.61 billion - up 19.2% from 2022's total.

Revenue record for Illinois in 2023

Illinois ended 2023 with a record revenue haul for the state's best sportsbooks, which took home $128.4 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenues in December. That eclisped the previous record of $112.7 million set in October and was a $55 million improvement from November's $73.3 million revenue haul.

It's also $48 million better than reported in December 2022, which was due to a respectable 9.8% hold in December 2023. The win rate was 7.9% in December 2022 and just 5.3% in November.

Illinois sportsbooks hit the $1 billion mark in terms of yearlong gross revenues after December’s report, eclipsing that mark barely by $2.3 million. The December yearlong figure is 26.1% better than the $795 million in gross sports betting revenues from 2022.

The state also collected $19.3 million in taxes from those sportsbooks in December, which is up from $11.67 million in November and is over $6 million better than the nearly $13.3 million in December 2022. For the year, Illinois sportsbooks contributed just over $150 million in taxes to Land of Lincoln state and local coffers.

Split decision for Illinois sportsbooks with ESPN BET coming on

The "Big Two" U.S. legal sports betting sites split the two main measuring metrics in Illinois in December. DraftKings won the handle battle, while FanDuel took the revenue war.

DraftKings Illinois took in $455.4 million worth of wagers in the state during the month and reported $42.6 million in revenues off a 9.4% hold, despite some potential losses from a beneficial DraftKings promo code.

FanDuel Illinois reported $439.1 million in accepted bets during December, but because of an 11.8% hold, it became the first Illinois sportsbook to eclipse $50 million in monthly revenues. FanDuel made $51.1 million in profits in Illinois during the month even while offering a generous FanDuel promo code.

ESPN BET Illinois started to flex its muscle in the Illinois market in December, coming in third among the eight Illinois sports betting sites. ESPN BET reported $96.5 million in accepted wagers in December and $8.1 million in winnings, while its December handle was up 19.1% month-over-month in the state.

ESPN BET knocked BetRivers Illinois out of the bronze-medal position for the first time since June 2020. BetRivers reported $88.9 million in accepted bets in December with Caesars Sportsbook Illinois rounding out the top five with $72.6 million in December wagers.

PointsBet Illinois was sixth with $62.1 million in bets, BetMGM Illinois was seventh with $52.7 million in accepted wagers, and Circa Sports Illinois finished last with $9.7 million in December bets.

Written By:
James Bisson

James Bisson is the Editor-in-Chief of Sportsbook Review. He has been a writer, reporter and editor for more than 20 years, including a nine-year stint with The Canadian Press and more than five years at theScore. He has covered dozens of marquee events including the 2010 Winter Olympics, the 2006 Stanley Cup final and Wrestlemania 23, and his work has appeared in more than 200 publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian, Yahoo! Sports, the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. His book, “100 Greatest Canadian Sports Moments”, was a hardcover best-seller in Canada in 2008 and earned him appearances on CBC Radio and Canada AM. He has written more than 50 sportsbook reviews, more than 200 industry news articles and dozens of other sportsbook-related content articles. A graduate of the broadcast journalism program at Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), James has been an avid bettor since the early 2000s, and cites bet365 as his favorite sports betting site due to its superior functionality and quick payouts. His favorite piece of sports betting advice: "Stay in your lane. You're much more likely to have success betting sports you know, and focusing on finding angles and edges there."