Illinois Edges Over $1 Billion For Sports Wagering Handle In November

The Illinois Gaming Board reported sports wagering handle of nearly $1.03 billion for the month of November late Wednesday, with the total less than $41,000 shy of breaking October’s record.

It was the first time the Land of Lincoln had back-to-back $1 billion monthly handles since accepting its first bets in March 2020, and it also came close to consecutive months with $100 million in adjusted revenue as it finished at $97 million.

Illinois also likely secured the No. 3 spot nationally in handle for the second straight year — its $8.7 billion in accepted bets is $900 million ahead of Nevada with both states yet to publish revenue figures for the final month of 2022. Illinois handle has surged 40% higher compared to the first 11 months of last year, with revenue up 45.3% to $714 million.

The state received $14.5 million in tax receipts in November, pushing Illinois’ total for the calendar year over $100 million and its all-time total beyond $200 million. Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago and levies a 2% tax on all revenue made from wagers placed inside the county, had an inflow of more than $1 million into its coffers for a second straight month and has collected $7.6 million for the year to date.

The publishing of Illinois’ numbers for November leaves Arizona as the only state outstanding, with a strong likelihood the national handle for the month will reach $10 billion for the first time in the post-PASPA era. Arizona would need to generate a handle of $437.8 million to better the current national record of $9.8 billion from January, and a handle of $601 million or higher would cross the $10 billion threshold. The latter target is 2.9% lower than the $618.6 million worth of wagers reported in the Grand Canyon State for October.

The parlay gravy train continues

November #SportsBetting 🧵 for #Illinois via IGB.

2022 YTD Han/Rev/WR for parlays via @FDSportsbook

$865.73M/$204.59M/23.63%

This is why FanDuel is the runaway leader in revenue — It has paid more than $30M in taxes in IL solely on parlay revenue.

17/x #GamblingTwitter pic.twitter.com/b6ZQoaZ6P2

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) January 11, 2023

Among state agencies that make category-specific numbers available, only New Jersey bettors seem to partake in parlay wagering at a level equal to their Illinois counterparts. The multi-leg option again provided more than half of the overall revenue for operators, totaling $55.9 million thanks to an eye-watering 22.5% hold.

It has been a rough NFL season for Illinois bettors when it comes to parlays, with operators collecting $156.8 million in revenue from $704.4 million worth of wagers from September through November. Operator parlay revenue has cleared $40 million each of the last three months, with the year-to-date hold entering the final month of 2022 at 18.8%. It seems a near-lock operators will breeze past $400 million in parlay revenue for the calendar year, needing less than $23.8 million to reach that benchmark.

FanDuel continues to be at the forefront of this primary revenue-generating method, surpassing $30 million in online parlay revenue for the second consecutive month on a win rate just shy of 28%. The mobile titan has topped $200 million in parlay revenue for the calendar year, with the $204.6 million haul already 47.7% higher than all of 2021.

DraftKings was a distant second in parlay revenue with $14.9 million, its win rate 18.4% on $81.4 million handle. The state’s seven online operators claimed $54.5 million of the $93.4 million in total revenue from parlay wagers, their combined hold 22.6%. All seven reaped at least $1 million in revenue from parlays, though PointsBet was the only other book besides FanDuel and DraftKings to surpass $2 million, finishing with $3.5 million on a 21% hold.

FanDuel’s parlay revenue alone would have led the state’s mobile operators for overall revenue, as the $43.3 million was just $42,000 shy of the all-time state record it set last month. DraftKings had a slightly more diversified revenue portfolio with overall winnings topping $25.9 million — the third consecutive month posting a record haul.

Those rivals were the only mobile books to reach eight figures in revenue, with BetRivers coming closest at $7.9 million. PointsBet was next with $6.1 million, while BetMGM rounded out the top five with a new high of $4.9 million. Caesars Sportsbook and Barstool Sportsbook were next at $2.9 million and $2.4 million, respectively.

In the bigger online handle picture, FanDuel finished atop the mobile handle pecking order for the first time since August as its traditional handle of $344 million set an all-time state record. DraftKings was a strong second at $318.6 million, but that figure was 6% off its short-lived state record of $338.8 million in October.

There was also a shakeup on the opposite end as Barstool placed last in handle with $46.1 million. Caesars Sportsbook cleared $50 million for the first time since entering the state in September 2020, with its $53.8 million in accepted bets a 13% improvement from October.

BetMGM also set a new handle standard at $57.6 million, its third month over $50 million since launch in March. PointsBet finished just shy of $72 million, the fourth time the Aussie-powered book cleared $70 million, and BetRivers again neared $100 million worth of wagers, finishing less than $2.5 million shy of the benchmark.

World Cup provides a solid handle boost

ovember #SportsBetting 🧵 for #Illinois via IGB. Completed Han/Rev/WR by category (2/3)

🏌️$2.44M/$48.3K/1.98%
🏒 $30.26M/$2.96M/9.79%
⚽️ $64.26M/$6.11M/9.52%

11/x #GamblingTwitter

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) January 11, 2023

Traditional soccer handle in November totaled more than $66.6 million, demolishing the previous record of $50.3 million set in November 2020. The $6.1 million in revenue from soccer wagers was also an all-time high for the sport, having never surpassed $3.5 million previously.

Illinois bettors again fared well in single-event wagering in basketball and baseball, holding the house below a 5% hold in both sports. Football provided the most revenue outside of parlays at $12.4 million, with the win rate 4.3% on $289.3 million in bets. Basketball revenue totaled $11.7 million, with the hold on the orange roundie 4.5% from $260.7 million handle.

A surprising source of revenue came from hockey, which totaled close to $3 million thanks to a 9.8% win rate — the hold perhaps helped by the Chicago Blackhawks currently being the worst team in the NHL. The November revenue was more than a tenfold increase from the previous month, when the 1.1% hold resulted in less than $300,000 in revenue.

Rivers Casino makes retail book history

The bellwether of the state’s 11 brick-and-mortar venues, Rivers Casino in Des Plaines became the first sportsbook to have back-to-back months of more than $1 million in revenue, drawing nearly $1.5 million in November with a 9.1% hold.

On the other side of the state in East St. Louis, DraftKings at Casino Queen made a spirited push to do likewise and finished at $932,000 in revenue. Casino Queen, however, did lead all retail venues with a 17.6% win rate and was one of three locations to post a double-digit hold.

Overall retail revenue totaled $3.6 million, with the hold 8.9% on $36.4 million in completed events handle. The Argosy in Alton was the only other venue to surpass $250,000 in revenue, racking up $331,000 from $4.2 million in accepted wagers.