The Land of Lincoln closed 2023 with its second-highest handle and best-ever revenue for a single month.
According to the Illinois Gaming Board, sports betting operators combined to generate $1.3 billion in wagers, down 4.5% from November, with record profits of $128.4 million, up 76.6% month-over-month, in December.
It marked the fourth consecutive month of a handle over $1 billion in Illinois.
The 9.7% December hold was nearly 4.5 points higher than in November as the house made out big during a huge football and basketball month.
Sportsbook operators paid out nearly $19.3 million in taxes to the state with $1.25 million going to Chicago’s Cook County.
Joining the big boys
Illinois joined New York and New Jersey as the only three U.S. states to reach $1 billion in revenue in 2023.
The Land of Lincoln finished the year with a handle of $11.6 billion, up 19% from 2022. The yearly hold was 8.6%, and Illinois filled its coffers with over $150 million in sports betting tax revenue.
King football
Football was king in Illinois in December.
During the busy month of college bowl games and the NFL regular season, the sport produced a handle of $322 million. Basketball was followed closely with a handle of $319 million.
Football’s 5.2% hold made it the most profitable as basketball posted a 4.3% win rate.
Soccer brought in $39.1 million while tennis generated over $35 million in wagers.
DraftKings by a hair
Online sports betting accounted for $1.27 billion of the overall handle and all but $4.5 million of the revenue.
DraftKings edged out rival FanDuel with a mobile handle of $455 million to lead the state in December. FanDuel generated $436.6 million in wagers to finish second.
However, FanDuel’s hold of 11.8% led to $51.5 million in revenue, about $9 million more than DraftKings.
ESPN BET bested the rest of the field, recording a $96.5 million handle in its first full month in Illinois. BetRivers was fourth with a handle of $88.9 million. Caesars finished at $72.6 million. Fanatics Sportsbook generated $62 million and BetMGM reached $52.7 million.
