Sportsbook Operators in Illinois Combined to Bring in Over $1 Billion Once Again in November; the Prairie State also Cemented itself in Third Place in the Overall Handle Department for 2022
Due to the way the October and November schedules were situated, the Illinois Gaming Board remains on a roll. On Wednesday, the Board released its numbers for November; sportsbook operators combined to register a handle of $1.03 billion.
Illinois Continues its Billion-Dollar Run
The Prairie State’s sports betting market has always been a prominent jurisdiction for the industry. Still, experts continuously wondered if it would ever reach the next milestone, and the sportsbook operators in the state finally achieved that goal.
Before releasing the October monthly handle, Illinois never surpassed the $1 billion mark. However, the state continued to silence the crowd as the state achieved that feat in back-to-back months. Only $41,000 separated November’s total from October’s.
It is also the first time the adjusted revenue numbers nearly hit the $100 million objective in consecutive months. November’s total in that department fell just a bit short, with $97 million in the adjusted revenue total.
In addition, the state secured itself with the third-highest wagering total for the year for the second straight year. Although both states have yet to release revenue figures for the final month of 2022, the state is ahead by $900 million in accepted bets compared to Nevada.
The state collected $14.5 million in tax receipts for the month, which continues to push the tax total to over $100 million in 2022. Since the launch began, the total is well on its way to surpassing the $200 million target. With the Prairie State’s numbers in the books, this leaves Arizona as the only other state closest to reaching the $10 billion handle benchmark in the post-PASPA era.
The House Continues to Win Against the Public
The key catalyst for sports betting for most states across the nation is the parlay department, and bettors seem to have no answer against the bookmakers, especially in the NFL category.
The NFL season has been a tough one for Illinois bettors who placed parlays, with operators accumulating $156.8 million in revenue from a total of $704.4 million worth of wagers between September and November. Breaking down the numbers even further, the house registered a hold rate of 22.5 percent on parlays for November.
FanDuel continues to use its best weapon against the bettors; surpassing the $30 million mark in mobile parlay revenue with a win rate of 28 percent. For the calendar year, the mobile giant generated $204.6 million in parlay revenue, 47.7 percent higher than all of 2021.
DraftKings secured the second position but was well behind FanDuel, with $14.9 million in revenue in the category. The win rate was approximately 10 points less than the bookmaker posted, a win rate of 18.4 percent.
The seven sportsbooks earned at least $1 million from parlays, though PointsBet was the only one besides FanDuel and DraftKings to surpass $2 million, with $3.5 million on a 21 percent hold. Traditionally, the World Cup takes place during the summer every four years, but due to external factors, the event boosted the market during the fourth quarter of 2022.
