Illinois Sport Betting Revenue – The Best Month Ever

The very first month in history, when Illinois reached 600 million dollars in wagers in a month, has already come! No one expected it, and no one could predict it, but in March 2021, it happened. That is to say, the sports betting revenue in Illinois is thriving, and people are still trying to get their heads wrapped around it.

Sports wagering in the Prairie State was legalized by a capital bill in 2019. The very first legal wager of the state was placed on March 9, 2020. Ever since then, they have seen huge numbers in sports betting revenue in Illinois. But it has been nothing like it was this March! Many thought that the expansion would eventually slow down after the strong start in 2020. But it does not look like that if we watch from here. But what could possibly happen to the business? Why did people wager more? How could Illinois surpass Pennsylvania again? We are here to give you answers to these questions! 

Legal sports betting in the Prairie State

It was not an easy ride! It took several negotiation processes to finally reach an agreement on sports wagering in Illinois. The state legislation finally agreed on a massive capital bill in June 2019. The SB 690 was signed in the same month, and nine months later, on March 9, 2020, they placed the first legal wager in the state. On that thrilling day, sports betting became legal in Illinois – and revenues have been growing ever since. According to sportshandle.com: “The new Illinois sports betting law allows for statewide retail and online sports betting at casinos, racetracks, off-track betting parlors, and venues that house professional sports in Illinois.” And since the state is a great market, online gambling sites in the US have been dying to get in! There are already some lucky ones, like Bovada, where you can already place bets from Illinois.

Illinois Sports Betting Revenue

So, in March 2021 Illinois saw a sports betting revenue of 633.6 million dollars! So far it has been its best month. That is up 24.3% from the numbers in February and also higher than the previous record – they saw that is January (581.6 million dollars). According to the data released, bettors placed 20.4 million per day, in the 31 days of March! It created a win of 44.3 million dollars. And that means a growth it taxes as well! The state got 6.6 million dollars of it, while locally it meant 493,543 dollars. This growth also meant that Illinois went ahead of Pennsylvania (560.3 million dollars per month). But what could make it possible? Joe Boozell, an analyst for PlayIllinois.com claims: “March Madness helped deliver a huge month for Illinois, but March is essentially a ‘last hurrah’ for the state’s rapid growth.”

What about the future?

In Illinois, they installed in-person registration. Analysts predict that this is something that will slow down the expansion of sports betting expansion in Illinois – also concerning revenues. Joe Bozell stated: “Illinois will still be one of the largest U.S. markets because of the population of the state, but it will be difficult to maintain its current status as the U.S. No. 3, much less catch Nevada, no matter how appealing a market, there isn’t any easy way to overcome the inconvenience of in-person registration.” Also, the huge trigger, the NCAA Tournament is over – it, of course, cannot go throughout the whole year. However, there are still – and always – several sports events, you can bet on using online sportsbook sites in the US. In Illinois, you can just check in on Bovada, and see your options!

You can discover more about Bovada Sportsbook here.