Illinois Celebrates Two Years Of Regulated Sports Betting

Illinois has had a regulated sports betting industry for two years.
Over the last year, since going live in March of 2020, the state has collected $4,144,742,113 in wagers from both retail and mobile sportsbooks combined.
The bulk of Illinois sports wagering is done through one of their five mobile sportsbook applications.

CHICAGO – Illinois officially regulated sports betting on June 28, 2019, with Monday marking two years since the industry’s start.

IL SB 690 that would turn into Public Act 101-0031 on this day two years ago made retail and mobile sports wagering available to sports bettors in Illinois.

How Has The Sports Gaming Industry Evolved In Illinois?

Upon becoming a regulated sports betting market in June of 2019, it took nine months for retail sportsbooks to open on March 9, 2020. They would remain open for 11 days as the Coronavirus Pandemic would shut the doors of casinos and sportsbooks nationwide for quite some time. And sports of any kind ceased to be played for months.

Fast-forward to June of 2020 and mobile sportsbooks went live in the state due to the lack of wagers from the shutdowns for land-based locations.

At first, there was a stipulation within the state’s law that required in-person registration to use these mobile sports betting platforms but Governor J.B. Pritzker waived this stipulation almost on a monthly basis to get gamblers betting once sports started up again within the bubble in July of 2020.

Since opening, there are 19 sports gaming venues in Illinois and five mobile sportsbooks. The online platforms are made up of all of the top operators: BetRIvers, DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, and William Hill.

Even going into 2021 some retail locations have not yet fully opened but online wagering has seen the bulk of all action for Illinois sports gaming either way.

The Illinois sports betting industry has taken $4,144,742,113 in combined bets from online and brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. There has been $308,943,854 seen in revenue from the market’s debut.

Taxes collected over the last year have been recorded to be $47,922,075. Once Illinois decided to open their mobile sports wagering industry, the market began to profit considerably more than it had been because they originally opened during a Pandemic.

What’s To Come For Illinois Sports Betting

Illinois has recently passed legislation to allow wagers for in-state college sporting events. The Chicago Bears have partnered with their first sportsbook in Rush Street Interactive (RSI). And in April, the state placed second in the nation to bring in the highest handle at $537.2 million as recorded by the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB).

Once the industry is able to open fully and expand even more as it intends to do, the sky is the limit and then some. They already managed to do quite well for themselves, getting their start during a global crisis.

Things can only get better from here for the Illinois sports bettor as the state celebrates two years of this profitable industry being made a reality.

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Christina Monroe

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.