All About Illinois Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

The experts at IllinoisBet.com have assembled this guide to explain what we mean when we talk about Illinois sports betting financial figures, 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 sportsbook 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 Illinois was legalized in 2019 with the Sports Wagering Act. The first legal sports bet was placed in March 2020.

Illinois Sports Betting, January vs. December

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Illinois Sports Betting Handle and Revenue: January 2024

Illinois set a new state record as it reported its January sports betting handle and revenue on Thursday.

Revenue and tax records were set in the state.

January total sports betting revenue was $135,231,590, which broke the previous record, set the previous month (December 2023). The figure was up 5.3% from December ($128,430,319).

Records also were set in mobile revenue and sports betting taxes paid.

However, the state’s sports wagering handle ($1,286,243,926) was down by 2.1% from December ($1,314,056,821). It was 2.0% for mobile handle.

The top sports in January: basketball ($448,588,515), football ($256,473,706), tennis ($87,792,830), hockey ($35,839,746) and soccer ($35,739,914).

Illinois Mobile Sports Betting History