Illinois sports betting handle hit a new record in March which was the last month of remote registration for online betting.
According to the latest figures from the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB), Illinois sports betting handle hit $633.6m in March, up from the $509.8m wagered in February.
Mobile and online betting made up $609m of the state’s total handle in March, while the remaining handle came from land-based sportsbooks.
March marked the final month of remote registration for online sports betting in the state of Illinois. Last year, governor J.B. Pritzker signed an executive order that suspended the rules requiring residents to register their online sportsbooks in-person.
The executive order was renewed on several occasions, but the Illinois governor did not renew the order in time for April, as he believed it was no longer necessary given that the state’s casinos were reopening and coronavirus cases were on the decline.
This means that every new sports betting account must be created in-person at one of the state’s casino sportsbooks. Unless Pritzker decides to renew the executive order again, online registration won’t be allowed until January 2022.
Meanwhile, sports betting revenue hit $44.3m in March, which translates into $6.6m in tax revenue to the state. March’s handle was up from the $35.4m generated by Illinois sportsbooks in February.
DraftKings holds onto first place
DraftKings held onto its lead in terms of handle but other operators managed to make significant gains to close the gap.
DraftKings, which is partnered with Casino Queen, processed $203.9m in sports bets and managed to generate $12.3m in revenue in March.
Meanwhile, FanDuel, which operates in the state under an agreement with Par-A-Dice Casino, processed $193.5m in bets and held onto $12.8m in revenue.
The BetRivers sportsbook processed $95.7m in bets, while PointsBet took $52.9m in bets and William Hill took $13.2m in bets.
Penn National Gaming also launched its Barstool-branded sportsbook on 11 March and managed to take $46.9m in bets in its first three weeks of activity in the state. The operator managed to generate $5.1m in revenue for the period.
What did people bet on?
According to the IGB report, basketball accounted for $363.2m of the state’s total handle in March, which generated $13.6m in revenue.
During the IGB’s board meeting on 21 April, it was revealed that at least $176.8m of this came from consumers betting on the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.
Tennis betting accounted for $47.2m of the state’s March handle, hockey accounted for $32.6m, Soccer bought in $29.2m and golf accounted for $10.1m.
