Illinois betting handle grows 8.5% hitting $400M mark, driven by baseball

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llinois sportsbooks commenced to emerge from a summer months slowdown in August with an 8.5% obtain in betting volume from July, the initial month-more than-thirty day period get in wagering given that March. The improve to additional than $400 million in wagering was welcome forward of a critical time of year for the sector, according to PlayIllinois.

Illinois’ retail and online sportsbooks accepted $400.4 million in bets in August, up 185.8% from $140.1 million in August 2020 and up 8.5% from $369.1 million in July, according to formal information introduced Tuesday. The per-working day betting quantity grew to $12.9 million over the 31 days of August, up from $4.5 million per working day in August 2020 and $11.9 million for every day in July.

“Interest in baseball, especially the White Sox, coupled with the return of soccer in August established the phase for what will surely be the busiest 4-month stretch at any time for Illinois’ legal sports betting market,” mentioned Eric Ramsey, an analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which contains PlayIllinois.com. “After summer time, any get is welcome. But the gains in August should pale in comparison to what we see with a entire soccer schedule.”

Gross gaming revenue fell 12.3% to $32.7 million in August from $37.3 million in July, which produced $26.8 million in altered gross revenue. August’s financial gain yielded $4.3 million in condition and local taxes.

Baseball garnered the most interest in August, drawing $139.6 million in wagers, up from $124. million of motion in July. Tennis ($43.4 million) and soccer ($30.8 million) drew important curiosity, way too. With just a handful of university and NFL preseason video games, in addition to futures betting, football attracted $17.2 million in wagering.

August’s volume helped force the business to $4. million in wagers and $326.3 million in gross gaming earnings for the yr. And with football projected to draw extra than $20 billion in wagering throughout the country, the state could get to $6 billion in wagers and $500 million in gross profits by year’s finish.

August’s wagering included $380.2 million in online bets, accounting for 95.% of the state’s tackle. DraftKings/Casino Queen topped Illinois yet again with $149.2 million in mixed on the net and retail cope with, up from $122.7 million in July. The operator took in a market place-finest $146.6 million in on the web wagers, much too. In all, DraftKings generated a market-top $11.3 million in gross gaming revenue, a noteworthy achieve from $9.5 million in July immediately after the operator commenced providing profitable same-game parlays.

FanDuel was 2nd with $111.5 million in online and retail wagers, down from $118.5 million in bets in July. $110.9 million of August’s wager arrived online. The final result was $10.5 million in gross gaming income.

“The return of soccer provides in high betting quantity, which is a motivator for each operator,” stated Joe Boozell, guide analyst for PlayIllinois.com. “But the worth of soccer season for sportsbooks is not just in limited-term profitability. Solid engagement provides sportsbooks an possibility to increase their customer foundation by making use of aggressive promotions and other marketing and advertising methods. And that can shell out off even soon after the football year ends.”