Illinois Heralds Record-Setting November Sports Betting Revenues

The sportsbooks in Illinois set a new record for state tax revenue last November. It was reported that the state’s bookmakers have earned over $80 million ever since the launch of sport betting.

An sudden increase in revenue

The total tax revenue of the state’s sports betting industry increased despite the inadequacy in terms of the number of wagers and the regulation imposed by the state on online gaming and sports wagering activities.

According to Eric Ramsey, an analyst for PlayUSA.com Network including PlayIllinois.com, he said “The state of Illinois emerged despite being in what seems to be the highly lucrative month in the American sports wagering history, because of its impressive growth for the past few years.”

“What is more fascinating is that most sportsbooks in the state, remain in publishing these results with the industry being hindered by the prohibition on betting on college sports and direct registration. It will definitely be much more convenient and smooth if those restrictions were removed.”

A new legislation passed

A new state law was passed that will permit sportsbook bettors to register online remotely starting on March 5. Currently, the state of Illinois allows only in-person registration, which will now end as Governor J.B. Pritzker permits the expiration of an executive order in April.

Last year, Pritzker authorized a legislation that permits gamblers to place their bets on state college squads, however, the law only allows betting on teams and not individual athletes or in-play events. According to the new legislation, wagers are not allowed to be placed online and it must be made directly at state-accredited sportsbooks, like the ones in Collinsville and Alton.

A sharp decline in wagers

Records showed that gamblers gambled $779.8 million at online and retail sportsbooks owned by the state back in November. It was a small decline compared to the record in October that showed $840.4 million.

Four weekends of football were being played every November, it is comparable to the five weekends every October. The month sought a sharp decline in terms of wagering volume over the month’s 30 days into $26 million per day, in which in October, it was $27.1 million per day.

The sportsbooks and casino in Illinois had a record of 74% in November yearly, the recent data includes the $449.2 million back in November 2020.

According to Joe Boozell, the head analyst at PlayIllinois.com, he said “Illinois still has a budding market, sportsbooks persist to broaden their influence, and punters are getting more convenient with less traditional services such as live betting”

“We already have a growing market and reforms in the state’s regulation will allow new opportunities for the state’s sportsbook, we can assure you that 2022 wil provide a drastic change and progress.”

A hope on other sports

The harrowing status of Chicago Bears, in which they only played three matches on four-weekend schedules back in November. It showed that from $330.1 million in October, the wagers plummeted into $257.1 million in November.

In contrast, the renewed interest in Chicago Bulls helped skyrocket the betting revenues from $93.3 million in October to $226.3 million in November. 

Boozell said “We can all agree that football wagering gets a lot of supporters, however, the NBA also slowly produces a lot of interest from sports bettors these past few years.”

“There is a spark of interest in the Chicago Bulls lately after they had a powerful performance at the beginning of the season, and this will definitely save the sportsbooks for the next few months.”

Final words

These new reforms in Illinois will definitely increase the betting volume this year. Now that the state allows bettors to wager remotely, they will become more comfortable placing their bets on the sportsbooks that they prefer.