Billion-Dollar Sports Betting Handle Streak Ends for Illinois in February

Given that February was a shorter month with the Super Bowl being the only major football game, lower numbers were expected.

Brad Senkiw - News Editorat Covers.com
Brad Senkiw • News Editor
Apr 14, 2023 • 12:59 ET • 4 min read
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In February, Illinois saw the end of its four-month streak of legal sports betting handles surpassing a billion dollars.

According to the Illinois Gaming Board, the state's handle for February was $875.4 million, down 19% from the record-setting handle of $1.07 billion in January. However, the February handle was still up 22% compared to the same month last year.

Illinois now joins Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania as the only states in the country to have surpassed a handle of $20 billion since 2019. 

Nevertheless, sports betting in Illinois still generated $68.4 million in revenue with a hold of 7.8%, which was 1.2% lower than January's figure. The state collected $10.3 million in taxes, down from the previous month's $14.4 million, with Cook County (including Chicago) contributing over $700,000 in tax revenue from a 2% levy on adjusted gross revenue of $35 million in wagers.

FanDuel overcomes loss on football

Mobile sports betting dominated Illinois' overall handle, accounting for $852 million, while retail sportsbooks contributed around $2 million. FanDuel emerged as the leader in online sports betting sites for February, despite incurring a $975,000 loss on football alone.

FanDuel achieved a monthly-best win rate of nearly 11%, resulting in $33.2 million in revenue from a handle of over $305 million. DraftKings ranked second among mobile sportsbooks with a handle of $277 million and revenue of $18.2 million from a hold of 6.6%.

BetRivers secured the third spot with a handle of $80.2 million and revenue of $5.6 million (6.9% hold). Meanwhile, PointsBet boasted the second-highest mobile win rate in the state for February at 8.2%.

Illinois is eagerly anticipating the entry of Circa Sports, which recently announced its plans to enter the competition around football season.

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Brad Senkiw - Covers
News Editor

Brad has been covering sports betting and iGaming industry news for Covers since 2023. He writes about a wide range of topics, including sportsbook insights, proposed legislation, regulator decision-making, state revenue reports, and online sports betting launches. Brad reported heavily on North Carolina’s legal push for and creation of online sportsbooks, appearing on numerous Tar Heel State radio and TV news shows for his insights.
Before joining Covers, Brad spent over 15 years as a reporter and editor, covering college sports for newspapers and websites while also hosting a radio show for seven years.

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