All About Sports Betting Handle And Revenue in Illinois
The experts at IllinoisBet.com have assembled this guide to explain what we mean when we talk about financial figures from Illinois sportsbooks, which include handle, revenue and tax collections.
The sports betting market in Illinois includes retail sportsbooks at the state’s casinos, plus mobile sports betting apps.
In the financial language of sports betting, handle is simply the total of all sports wagers made in the state during one calendar month. The handle can be specified as either retail (in person) or online (using a device such as a laptop, desktop or mobile phone). In Illinois, bettors wager hundreds of millions of dollars each month – sometimes more than a billion dollars – and the vast majority of the action is on Illinois betting apps.
Revenue is what is left for the gambling operators after winnings are paid out. The tax collections from sports gambling is determined by a 15% tax rate (plus additional taxes for wagers placed in Cook County and the City of Chicago) that is applied to the operators’ Revenue.
Sport gambling in the Land of Lincoln was legalized in 2019 with the Sports Wagering Act. The first legal sports bet was placed in March 2020.
Illinois Sports Betting, March vs. February
| Total handle | Mobile handle | Revenue |
March | $1494.277M | $1461.559M | $95.479M |
February | $1150.508M | $1123.135M | $128.034M |
Change | Up 29.9% | Up 30.1% | Down 25.4% |
đź’° Visit our Illinois Tax Calculator to see how much you owe from your winnings
The madness of March spread far from the hardwoods of America, with Illinois sports betting operators reporting a massive surge in wagering handle during the third month of 2025. The Illinois Gaming Board, which reported March figures on May 14, reported a 29.9% jump in total handle and a 30.1% increase in mobile wagers.
Overall, the total sports betting handle in the Prairie State during March this year was $1,494,276,828, up from $1,150,508,464 in February. The mobile sports betting handle in Illinois rose from $1,123,134,790 in February to $1,461,559,460 during March.
Year-over-year, Illinois sports betting handle climbed 18.2% from March 2024’s total of $1,264,532,904, illustrating the continuing surge in sports betting interest throughout the state.
While the news was all good and dandy for handle in March, the same cannot be said of Illinois’ total sports betting revenue figures. Revenue finished in March at $95,479,076, down 25.4% from February ($128,034,091), while the state’s mobile sports betting revenue dropped 25.5%, from $125,744,866 the previous month to $93,697,705 in March.
That drop in revenue subsequently led to a total sports betting tax bill of $34,776,567 in March, down 26.3% from February ($47,206,093). Mobile operators combined for a tax tally of $34,286,687 for the third month of 2025, down 26.5% from February ($46,646,545).
Illinois Mobile Sports Betting History
Illinois Sports Betting Handle and Revenue FAQ
Illinois sports betting handle from January to December 2024 exceeded $14.01 billion, up 20.6% form 2023 ($11.62 billion). Revenue was $1.214 billion last year (up 21.2% from the previous year's $1.002 billion) and the state collected more than $277.5 million in taxes for the 2024 calendar year.
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The IllinoisBet.com Staff is comprised of seasoned sports betting and iGaming experts, writers, analysts, and editors. Our content is based on experience, data, and analytical insights to provide the best reviews of all things iGaming in Illinois.
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