Illinois Takes Second Spot in U.S Sports Betting Rankings
Fairmount Park Racetrack in Illinois
Sportsbook operators in Illinois witnessed another staggering monthly revenue return in August, despite presiding over a quiet time in the American major sporting event calendar. Indeed, betting firms in the ‘Prairie State’ generated a colossal $565m in gross gaming revenue throughout the 31 days of August, positioning itself as the second most lucrative U.S jurisdiction within the sports wagering racket.
Illinois eclipsed New Jersey’s like-for-like figure by roughly $8m, quite an achievement for a state market just over two years in existence. True, industry expert Dave Briggs, from local analysts PlayIllinois.com, emphasized the importance of this reality in considering the market’s potential scale in the medium-term, ‘’We are really talking about going back to March of 2020 when all this stated, so to already pass such an established sports betting area as New Kersey, that really shows it’s got quite a future’’
Despite the state’s impressive performance, Illinois GGR was still some way off New York’s barnstorming returns, with the ‘Empire State’ setting the pace amongst inter-U.S. markets since an unprecedented launch in January pre-empted an opening month handle figure of over $1bn. Nevertheless, the same threshold has just been surpassed in relation to Illinois’ progressive revenue, with the vast majority of earnings secured via its mobile sportsbook platforms – just 6% of the overall number since the market’s inception was procured through in-person sports betting.
Furthermore, the state benefited from a sizeable cash injection, receiving just shy of $70m in operator taxation payments through August; accounting for around 40% of the total tax pot accrued since going live.
The results, published by the state’s native regulator the Illinois Gaming Board, demonstrated a remarkable 41% uplift on the previous year, and illustrated a monthly run rate of +9% moving out of July.
