Sport

Illinois reached over $1 billion in sports betting in November

January 12, 2023
Ney Marshela

The Illinois Gaming Board reported late Wednesday that sports betting totaled nearly $1.03 billion for the month of November, with totals less than $41,000 short of breaking October’s record.

It was the first time Land of Lincoln had back-to-back $1 billion monthly sales since taking its first bets in March 2020, and it also came close to back-to-back months with $100 million in adjusted revenue as it finished at $97 million.

Illinois also likely secured third place nationally for the second year in a row — its $8.7 billion in wagers received is $900 million ahead of Nevada, and both states have yet to release revenue data for the final month of 2022. Illinois grew 40% higher compared to the first 11 months of last year, with revenue growing by 45.3% to $714 million.

The state received $14.5 million in tax receipts in November, bringing Illinois’ total revenue for the calendar year to over $100 million and the total to over $200 million. Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago and levies a 2% tax on all wagering revenue within the county, had more than $1 million flow into its coffers for the second straight month and collected $7.6 million for the year to date.

The release of Illinois’ November figures leaves Arizona as the only outlier, with the national tally likely to hit $10 billion for the first time in the post-PASPA era. Arizona would need to generate $437.8 million to better the current national record of $9.8 billion from January, and $601 million or more would pass the $10 billion mark. The latter target is 2.9% lower than the $618.6 million in stakes reported in the Grand Canyon State for October.

The parlay gravy train continues

Among state agencies that make category-specific numbers available, only New Jersey bettors appear to engage in parlay betting at a level equal to their Illinois counterparts. The multi-share option again provided more than half of the total revenue for operators, totaling $55.9 million thanks to an eye-popping 22.5% retention.

It’s been a tough NFL season for Illinois bettors when it comes to parlays, with operators taking in $156.8 million in revenue from $704.4 million worth of stakes from September through November. The carrier’s revenue rose $40 million each of the past three months, and year-to-date retention enters the final month of 2022 at 18.8%. The near-term carriers look set to jump over $400 million in revenue for the calendar year, needing less than $23.8 million to reach that benchmark.

FanDuel continues to be the leader in this primary method of revenue generation, surpassing $30 million in online gaming revenue for the second month in a row with a win rate of barely 28%. The mobile titan surpassed $200 million in earnings for the calendar year, with revenue of $204.6 million already 47.7% higher than in all of 2021.

DraftKings was a distant second in parlay revenue at $14.9 million, with a win rate of 18.4% at $81.4 million. The state’s seven online operators claimed $54.5 million of the $93.4 million in total parliamentary betting revenue, their combined share of 22.6%. All seven earned at least $1 million in parlay revenue, though PointsBet was the only other book besides FanDuel and DraftKings to top $2 million, finishing with $3.5 million in 21% pending.

FanDuel’s revenue alone would lead the state’s mobile carriers for total revenue, as the $43.3 million was just $42,000 short of the state’s all-time record set last month. DraftKings had a slightly more diversified revenue portfolio with total winnings topping $25.9 million — the third consecutive month with a record share.

Those competitors were the only mobile books to reach eight figures, with BetRivers coming closest with $7.9 million. PointsBet was next with $6.1 million, while BetMGM rounded out the top five with a new record of $4.9 million. Caesars Sportsbook and Barstool Sportsbook were next with $2.9 million and $2.4 million, respectively.

In the broader network picture, FanDuel finished atop the mobile rankings for the first time since August as its traditional processing of $344 million set an all-time national record. DraftKings was a strong second with $318.6 million, but that number was 6% off its short-lived state record of $338.8 million in October.

There was also a shakeup on the opposite side as Barstool took last place with $46.1 million. Caesars Sportsbook hit $50 million for the first time since entering the country in September 2020, with $53.8 million in bets accepted, a 13% improvement over October.

BetMGM also set a new processing benchmark of $57.6 million, the third month over $50 million since launching in March. PointsBet finished with a paltry $72 million, the fourth time the Aussie-powered book has raised $70 million, and BetRivers again came close to $100 million worth of bets, finishing less than $2.5 million short of the benchmark.

The World Cup gives a solid boost to the handles

Traditional football betting in November totaled more than $66.6 million, breaking the previous record of $50.3 million set in November 2020. The $6.1 million in football betting revenue was also the highest for the sport, as it has never topped $3.5 million before.

Illinois bettors did well again in single event betting in basketball and baseball, keeping the house below 5% in both sports. Football brought in the most non-parlay revenue at $12.4 million, with a win rate of 4.3% on $289.3 million in bets. Basketball revenue totaled $11.7 million, with the orange ball accounting for 4.5% of $260.7 million.

A surprising source of revenue came from hockey, which totaled close to $3 million thanks to a 9.8% win rate – perhaps helped by the Chicago Blackhawks currently being the worst team in the NHL. November’s revenue was more than tenfold higher than the previous month, when retention of 1.1% resulted in less than $300,000 in revenue.

Rivers Casino makes retail book history

Leading the nation’s 11 brick-and-mortar venues, Rivers Casino in Des Plaines became the first sportsbook to consistently top $1 million in revenue, pulling in nearly $1.5 million in November for a 9.1% share.

On the other side of the state in eastern St. Louis, DraftKings at Casino Queen tried hard to do the same and ended up taking in $932,000. Casino Queen, however, led all retail outlets with a 17.6% win rate and was one of three sites to post a double-digit share.

Total retail revenue was $3.6 million, holding 8.9% to $36.4 million in processing completed events. The Argosy in Alton was the only other venue to exceed $250,000 in revenue, collecting $331,000 from $4.2 million in accepted bets.

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