Illinois Places Number Two In US For April Sports Betting Handle

• The Illinois sports betting industry collected $537.2 million in handle for April.
• The Prairie State was number two for the number of wagers taken for the month, only falling behind to New Jersey who had $748 million in bets.
• Of the $537.2 million brought in, $513.2 million of that was done using mobile sportsbooks.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – On Wednesday, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) posted their April sports betting figures which shows them landing the number two spot in the country for April’s sports betting handles by state.

Illinois collected $537.2 million in wagers for April while New Jersey ranked number one with almost $748 million in handle.

The Numbers Game

The Illinois sports betting market has been open since March 2020. Subsequently, after opening their sportsbooks, they’ve been edging out Nevada with their posted numbers. The Silver State made it to number four in handle for April with $457.8 million, slowly losing their handle on being the top state for wagering on sports. Pennsylvania placed third with $479.4 million.

March proved to be a historical month for Illinois betting revenue and handle as the state made a new record for themselves in wagers taken with $633.6 million. Much of that betting action can be attributed to March Madness wagering. However, from a month-over-month viewpoint, there was a 15.2% drop in activity.

According to the report released by the IGB, the revenue brought in for April was $43.6 million at a rate of 1.6% and a tax hold of 8.1% was posted, resulting in $7.1 million in tax revenue for April.

Breaking It Down

Regulated sports betting has always been the most popular with mobile sportsbook platforms across the nation and that is evident for sports bettors in Illinois. FanDuel took in the most wagers for April with their platform at 34.5%, totaling $176.9 million in handle. DraftKings came in second with 32.2% of mobile action, equaling $165.4 million. Third place went to BetRivers with $72.3 million and 14.1% of the total action. And coming in fourth was Barstool Sportsbook with 9.8% of the online action and $50.3 million to show for it.

Mobile sportsbooks brought in $513.2 million of the $537.2 million in handle for April.

As far as retail sports betting is concerned, BetRivers locations were number one for April with $23.9 million wagered at their locations. DraftKings was second with $4.2 million in handle and FanDuel was third with $545,966 in bets seen.

A number of wagers are expected to be seen on the NBA Playoffs. There is a question as to whether or not the in-person mobile sports betting requirement being back will hurt the market for Illinois, but right now, the state is sitting pretty in second place for April and that’s a nice place to be.

News tags: Barstool | BetRivers | DraftKings | FanDuel | Illinois | Illinois Gaming Board | March Madness | NBA Playoffs