Illinois 2nd-Best Sports Betting State in America in April

The state of Illinois and its legal sports betting industry had quite an April. In fact, the Land Of Lincoln landed in the silver medal position in terms of sports betting handle, revenues, and taxes in April through the best sports betting sites, behind only the “King of the Legal Betting States,” New York.

But despite no NFL, no local teams in the NBA or NHL playoffs, and the fact that there were only three March Madness games played in April, the state of Illinois managed to mitigate the month-over-month declines and saw year-over-year increases from its sports betting sector.

With April's numbers factored in, Illinois reached a milestone and became just the third state with a lifetime sports betting handle of $22.5 billion.

April handle in Illinois

Sports bettors in Illinois spent $898.6 million at the state's best sports betting sites in April. It put the state about $250 million behind first place New York and its April handle, but about $65 million ahead of third-place New Jersey and a whopping $300 million ahead of Nevada, which clocked in as the fourth-most successful sports betting state in April.

Almost 89% of the Land of Lincoln handle came from Illinois sports betting apps.

April represented just the second time in the last seven months that the state's handle didn't eclipse the $1 billion mark. $898.6 million in April betting comes in 16.2% lower than the Illinois record $1.072 billion handle from March but up a surprising 7.1% year-over-year from the $839.4 million from April 2022.

Illinois' April sports betting revenues

Revenues for the Illinois legal sports betting scene were also strong in April, but far from the record sportsbook profits we saw in March. Roughly $81.4 million in revenues was reported by Illinois sportsbooks in April, off of a 9% hold. Adjusted gross revenues for April came in at $89.5 million.

The $81.4 million ranks second behind only New York, which reported $139 million in sportsbook revenues during April. It was, however, a healthy drop from the $107.4 million in revenues reported in March, when March Madness contributed to record handles and revenues.

Year-over-year, sportsbook revenues for Illinois rose an impressive 27%, from the $68.2 million reported in April 2022.

Roughly $14.4 million in taxes was paid by Illinois sports betting apps to state and local coffers. Illinois sportsbook tax contributions also rank second in the nation in April, behind only the $71 million in tax contributions in New York.

Most U.S. legal sports betting jurisdictions have shown year-over-year declines for the first quarter of 2023. Illinois, on the other hand, seems to have bucked that trend, along with just one other state showing year-over-year growth, New York.

New Jersey's red-hot market has been affected by the launch of New York's legal sports betting scene, while other markets have been affected by Ohio and Arizona launching and having success in their respective regions.

It puts Illinois on track to maintain its position as a top-3 legal sports betting jurisdiction in the U.S. market, behind New York. Sor far, through the first four months of 2023, Illinois is second in handle in the nation with just over $3.9 billion in wagers, second in revenue with just over $340.5 million and third in taxes paid with $56.3 million.

FanDuel dominates Illinois

FanDuel was the most successful sportsbook in the Illinois market in April in terms of handle, hold, and revenue. FanDuel Sportsbook Illinois made up $310.4 million of the state’s overall handle and produced $38.9 million in revenue off an impressive 12.5% win rate.

DraftKings, unsurprisingly, finished second in the Illinois market with $278.8 million in bets and about $25 million in revenues thanks to a 9% hold. Caesars was next with a reported $75.2 million in wagers and $3.9 million in revenues with PointsBet rounding out the top four with $47.4 million in April bets and $5.4 million in revenues off of a respectable 11.3% hold.