Illinois is somewhat quietly becoming one of the online betting hubs of the United States. After a massive January that saw it post the third-highest sports betting handle of any state Illinois sports betting is continuing a massive upward trajectory, and FanDuel is riding right alongside.
Illinois’ $1.29 billion trailed only New York and New Jersey and led Pennsylvania and Ohio by roughly $400 million. Additionally, the state’s gaming board announced $135.2 million in sports betting revenue in January, its highest ever and the second straight month that Illinois sportsbooks have set the record.
JANUARY Top 10 #SportsBetting handles by state:
1 New York $1.97B
2 New Jersey $1.72B
3 ILLINOIS $1.29B
4 Penn. $858.2M
5 Ohio $811.6M
6 Nevada $782.8M
7 Arizona $706.4M
8 Virginia $652.9M
9 Mass. $651.7M
10 Michigan $601.6M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) March 27, 2024
Translation: The house is smoking bettors in Illinois lately. Yes, it also means Illinois sports betting business is booming — but come one, my fellow Illinoisans; how about we start winning more bets?
(And here is we insert a plug for OddsShopper Premium, which can help you bet smarter with both market-based and expert-based tools and data. Plus, we offer our +EV betting tools at a fraction of the price of competitors, as you can get it for just $14.95 a week of $49.95 a month — compared to the $150 to $200 you’ll find elsewhere. You can even filter by state so Illinois can learn the errors of its betting failures.)
Like it is in most states, FanDuel was a big contributor to Illinois’ record month, boasting $59.4 million in winnings — which also pushed it past $1 billion total in the state, the first mobile sportsbook to do so.
Data suggests it was a chaotic NFL playoff season that played a major role in the books winning big, as parlay revenue was the highest it has ever been for a single month in Illinois ($86.7 million).
Brick-and-mortar retail locations also did pretty well in January, with $3.2 million in revenue. However, one sportsbook did lose over $350,000 in this time to drag the total number down a bit. Other retail books like Rivers Casino in Des Plaines did great business.
All in all, the month of January was a good sign that sports betting is going to be a profitable endeavor for the state of Illinois. How Illinois bettors perform, now, that may be another story.
