- Illinois saw more than $491.7 million wagered on sports in December.
- Eight retail venues were shut down due to COVID-19.
- DraftKings remains the top mobile app in Illinois.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Those betting on sports in Illinois managed to yet again increase the total betting handle for the month in December, despite there being no retail sports betting available.
Illinois was forced to close down its seven casinos and one racecourse that offered regulated brick and mortar sports betting due to another COVID-19 outbreak in the state.
With online being the only option for Illinois sports betting in December, the state still had a thriving market.
Illinois Booms Online
Those betting on sports in the Prairie State have embraced online betting since its launch. Mobile and online wagering has contributed to the bulk of all legal sports betting activity consistently so it is no surprise that the numbers remained high in December.
The official report released by the Illinois gaming board show that more than $491.7 million was wagered at the end of the year. This is a 9.4% increase month over month from the $449 million wagered in November.
The Prairie State also saw just under $23.9 million in sports betting revenue to the sportsbooks, with $3.6 million collected in state tax.
DraftKings continues to be the favored sportsbook in Illinois. Sports betting fans in Illinois wagered more than $193.7 million at the mobile sportsbooks alone.
Right behind DraftKings was FanDuel who saw $143.1 million in betting handle, and BetRivers who posted $110.6 million.
Sports bettors in Illinois have a lot of choices when it comes to betting on sports, but DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetRivers have continued to be the more popular options.
January will see the return of retail sportsbooks, so the potential handle is expected to be even higher. In addition, the NFL post-season and Super Bowl were heavily wagered on and should contribute to higher numbers as well.
Sports betting in Illinois is a thriving market mainly due to its strong online presence. Illinois still does not have remote sign-ups in law, only available via an executive order. This is likely to change with the success of online betting.
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News tags: Chicago | Chicago Bears | Chicago Bulls | COVID-19 | Illinois | NBA | NFL | Revenue | sports betting | Springfield
Coming from a background in narrative-based writing, Giovanni strives to write stories that will keep the reader engaged. Although he does pride himself in being accurate, how the story is told is also very important to him. When he’s not keeping readers up to date on sports betting laws and legislation, you can find him writing and recording music, playing videogames, or engaged in heated sports debates with his friends.
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