sports wagering handle Friday after the Illinois Gaming Board reported nearly $676.1 million in traditional handle for August.
The Land of Lincoln s Mobile wagering has ed for all but $980 million of that handle, and Illinois bettors have wagered $6.7 billion in the first eight months of 2023.
August’s handle was not enough to top New Jersey for the No. 2 spot nationally, marking the first time Illinois was not runner-up to New York in monthly handle since finishing fourth in January.
Operators claimed $46.9 million in adjusted gross revenue in August, which was down 1.8% compared to the since June 2022 that Illinois operators failed to reach the standard industry threshold of 7%.
The state collected just over $7 million in taxes from operators, while Cook County received nearly $509,000 from its separate 2% levy on revenue generated within its borders. The $602.2 million in AGR for the 2023 calendar year is 38.4% higher compared to the first eight months of 2022, while the $90.3 million in state taxes is running $25 million ahead of last year’s pace.
Finally, a (small) turnaround on parlays 263l27
FINAL August Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 New York $1.12B
2 New Jersey $725.8M
3 Illinois $676.1M
4 Nevada $431M
5 Pennsylvania $393M
6 Ohio $379.5M
7 ARIZONA $358.9M
8 Virginia $319M
9 Massachusetts $314.9M
10 Maryland $263.7M#GamblingTwitter— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) October 13, 2023
llinois has long been a state where the house has run roughshod over the public when it comes to below 10% in February 2022.
FanDuel in particular had a rough go by its lofty standards in the wagering discipline. Its 17.6% hold ended a 13-month run with parlay win rates of 20% or higher, though it still claimed $11.8 million from $67.1 million handle. Three of the state’s seven online operators had year-low holds for parlays, as Caesars Sports was held to 5.2% in winning barely more than $306,000 from $5.9 million wagered.
PointsBet landed in the middle for parlay win rates at 12.3%, while PENN Entertainment crafted a 7.5% hold as the former Barstool Sportsbook collected more than $638,000 from $8.5 million worth of accepted wagers.
The drag on FanDuel’s parlay prowess impacted its overall hold, knocking it below 8% in Illinois for the first time since narrowly missing that mark in March 2022. It still paced all mobile books with $17.3 million in revenue from $218.6 million handle from completed events.
DraftKings was a closer second than usual in revenue, claiming $15.8 million while crafting a 6.7% win rate. It led the seven mobile books in traditional handle with nearly $241.3 million, approximately $18.6 million more than FanDuel.
BetRivers comfortably claimed the final podium spots in both categories, winning $4.8 million from $63.3 million handle for a 7.6% hold. The race for the No. 4 spot in traditional handle was won by Caesars at $36.4 million, though the distance to last-place PENN Entertainment was far more compressed compared to July, as its handle surged 46.6% to $29.3 million.
Baseball tops, tennis a strong second 1g5a22
Baseball was one of four sports that yielded seven-figure revenue totals for operators, who claimed $6.3 million from the summer pastime off $206.2 million in handle. Tennis continued to be a strong second choice for bettors, with live wagering a likely contributor to the $89.1 million handle that ranked second only to last August.
Revenue from those wagers totaled $5.5 million, resulting in a 6.2% hold. Basketball ($2.1 million) was the other sport with a seven-figure payout for operators, though the catch-all “other” category provided an additional haul of nearly $1.9 million. The house also had a swing of more than $1.2 million to the positive in boxing and MMA wagers, claiming nearly $848,000 on $10.7 million worth of bets after paying out $389,000 above the $13.6 million handle in July.
Rivers, Alton, Casino Queen carry retail banner i2u5j
The state’s nine retail books and three off-track betting locations combined to collect $1.6 million in revenue from $19.6 million handle, good for an 8.3% hold. Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin avoided a third straight month of losses, as it came out nearly $86,000 to the good on $1.3 million handle. The Caesars-based book lost more than $145,000 in July and slightly more than $7,000 in June.
Rivers Casino topped retail venues with more than $476,000, while across the Mississippi from St. Louis, Casino Queen topped $390,000. Alton Casino took the No. 3 slot at more than $313,000, while Par-A-Dice Casino ($126,532) in Peoria and Hollywood Casino in Joliet ($108,581) were the only other locations to post six-figure revenue totals.
