The third month of the year was kind to Illinois casinos, with double digit growth in revenue along with increases in electronic gaming devices and table games.
In total, casinos in the Prairie State reported $131,025,422 in revenue during March, representing a 13.9% increase from the February casino revenue report, which announced $115,016,247 at the facilities.
Year-over-year, casinos in Illinois saw a 9.98% jump in casino revenues, up from $119,138,938 they reported to the state in 2022. Illinois online casinos, or iGaming apps, are not yet legal.
But sports betting in Illinois is thriving, as the state exceeded $1 billion in handle in January.
Here’s what else you need to know about the Illinois Gaming Board’s casino report for March.
Illinois Casino Play Up Across The Board
The month of March was a winner for casinos in Illinois in every facet, with month-over-month increases in all forms of gaming.
Overall, electronic gaming devices chipped in $99,380,117 worth of revenue (up from $88,046,773 in February), while table games drove another $31,645,305 in revenue during March (up from $26,969,474 the month before).
Through one quarter of the year, casinos in Illinois have taken in $358,657,357 worth of revenue, meaning Illinois is on pace to see just over $1.4 billion in 2023.
That figure would be a 6.4% increase over last year’s total of $1,348,662,504.
If the facilities are able to hit that year-end projection, casinos in Illinois would see a third consecutive year of revenue growth — Illinois casinos took in $1,187,308,324 in 2021.
March Reaches Historic Heights For Illinois
The $131,025,422 in revenues generated by Illinois casinos is the state’s highest monthly sum since the start of the 2021 fiscal year, knocking off the previous high of $122,886,892 set in July 2022.
The state’s EGD total in March ($99,380,117) also was the highest since the start of 2021, knocking of July’s sum of $93,974,538. The $31,645,305 in table games revenue broke the record the state set in November, when Illinois casinos took in $31,373,799 from those activities.
Illinois’ three-month sum of $358,657,357 in 2023 is a 19.3% increase from the first quarter total from a year ago, when the same facilities took in $300,529,918 worth of revenue.
Handle and revenue have yet to be reported for February or March for Illinois sports betting apps and retail sportsbooks. March figures to be a strong month on the heels of the recently completed NCAA basketball tournament.
April features the NBA and NHL playoffs, and sports bettors can pick up their Illinois sportsbook promos at IllinoisBet.com.
