February was a solid month for Illinois casinos.
The state’s 11 casinos combined for $93,624,249 in revenue for the month, a rise of 6.7% compared to January’s $87,766,731 in revenue.
Almost all of the increase can be attributed to electronic gaming devices (EGDs) available at casinos around the state. Those machines took in $72 million in revenue last month, a bump of nearly $6 million from the $66.3 million total for January. Table games revenue also increased in February, but only slightly, from $21.45 million to $21.59 million.
That January total was a 20% decrease from December 2021, according to numbers from the Illinois Gaming Board.
This spring has seen continued progress in both choices and convenience for Illinois sports betting too.
Breakdown of Illinois Casino Revenue
The state’s largest casino, Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, topped Illinois gaming revenue for February at $31.8 million. Its take for EGDs alone ($20.4 million) almost doubled the total revenue at any of the other 10 commercial casinos in Illinois.
Elgin’s Grand Victoria Casino was second in February revenue at $12.28 million, followed by Harrah’s Joliet Casino & Hotel at $10.68 million.
Illinois collected $11.52 million in taxes from its casinos in February, and the local share of taxes was $5.29 million.
Illinois Sports Betting Update
Illinois has yet to report its sports betting figures for January; it is usually one of the last states to circulate its monthly wagering handle and revenue.
However, it’s not too early for bettors in sports-mad Illinois to celebrate.
A major event happened in the state in early March when Illinois dropped its in-person sign-up requirement. Under the old rules, those who wished to participate in online sports betting had to sign up first at a brick-and-mortar casino.
The new law means that, anywhere in the state, Illinois residents (or even those visiting) can sign up to place a wager on an Illinois sports betting app on their mobile devices, tablets or laptops.
The law, HB 3136, also introduced limited wagering on in-state college sports teams, though those bets must still be placed at physical casinos.
Operators wasted no time getting in on the mobile app action in one of America’s biggest sports betting states. Illinois was third in handle for December at $789.6 million, trailing only New Jersey ($1.340 billion) and Nevada ($1.015 billion). For January, though Illinois numbers are unavailable, it’s safe to say that the state will finish fourth behind those two juggernauts and New York, the new power player. New York introduced mobile sports betting on Jan. 8 and smashed the national handle record at better than $1.6 billion, even without being operational for a full month.
Still, consumers in Illinois have plenty of choices for convenient sports betting, and the options increased on Wednesday when Caesars Sportsbook Illinois announced that it has launched its app.
