Billion-dollar monthly handles have become incredibly normal for Land of Lincoln sports betting.
The Illinois Gaming Board recently reported that the online and retail sportsbooks combined to bring in $1.07 billion in wagers in February, the sixth consecutive month of a 10-digit handle.
With only the Super Bowl for football bettors to get in on, the amount wagered fell 20.1% from January. However, the February handle was up 22.3% from the same month last year.
Land of Lincoln operators generated $83.5 million of revenue, up 22% year-over-year but down 38% from January’s all-time best of $134.9 million. Sportsbooks couldn’t maintain the previous month’s double-digit win rate as the February hold fell to 7.8%, thanks to the Super Bowl.
Illinois online sports betting accounted for $1.04 billion of the overall handle while retail wagering reached $29.4 million.
The Land of Lincoln filled its coffers with $12.5 million for the state while Cook County made $921,855 off of Chicago-area sports betting.
Super loss
Like much of the U.S., Illinois sports betting operators took it on the chin in the Super Bowl. Bettors handed the sportsbooks a $2.4 million loss on a football handle of $69.1 million.
Basketball’s $457 million handle led to $13.7 million in revenue while tennis led to $5.6 million in profits. Soccer accounted for nearly $3 million while “other” sports made up nearly $4.2 million in revenue.
FanDuel stays hot
| Operator | February Handle | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | $389.4 million | $31.4 million |
| FanDuel | $370.9 million | $31.8 million |
| BetRivers | $70.9 million | $5.2 million |
| ESPN BET | $57.2 million | $4.3 million |
Both DraftKings and FanDuel reached more than $40 million in revenue in January, with FanDuel getting close to $60 million. The two online market leaders barely got over $30 million in Illinois in February.
DraftKings generated a $389.4 million handle while FanDuel brought in $370.9 million. BetRivers jumped ahead of ESPN BET with a handle of $70.9 million after falling behind the PENN Entertainment platform in the previous month.
Caesars was the only other online sportsbook to go over $50 million in handle while both BetMGM and Fanatics Sportsbook crossed $40 million.
Retail revenue plummets
Brick-and-mortar sportsbooks accounted for nearly $1.5 million of revenue, despite the rough month. That was down from the $3.2 million combined profits in February.
Rivers Casino hauled in $7.3 million in wagers, well below the $13.7 million handle from January. DraftKings at Casino Queen recorded a handle of $3.4 million to finish second in retail wagering.
