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Illinois betting handle drops to $537.2m in April

Illinois is the latest state with sports betting to report a drop in April figures

According to the latest figures from the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) bettors in the state of Illinois wagered $537.2m on sporting events in April.

April’s sports betting handle was down 15.2% from March’s all-time high of $633.6m.

April marked the first month with remote registration for online sports betting accounts in the state. Last year, governor J.B. Pritzker signed an executive order that suspended the rules requiring residents to register their online sportsbooks in-person. 

The executive order was renewed on several occasions, but the Illinois governor did not renew the order in time for April, as he believed it was no longer necessary given that the state’s casinos were reopening and coronavirus cases were on the decline.

The state also reported a minor 1.6% month-on-month dip in sports betting revenue with sportsbooks in the state generating a combined $43.6m.

Total tax revenue from sports betting in Illinois amounted to $7.1 for the month of April.

The state’s online sportsbooks accounted for $515.1m of the state’s total handle for the month.

FanDuel leads Illinois online market in April

FanDuel took the top spot among the state’s online sportsbooks accounting for $176.9m of the state’s total online handle. This marks the first time the online sportsbook has taken the top spot in the state since launching last August.

DraftKings took second place with $177.3m in online bets, representing 33.2% of the state’s online market. 

BetRivers took third place in April with $72.3m in online sports wagers. 

Meanwhile, Penn National Gaming’s Barstool Sportsbook took fourth place in its first full month of operation in Illinois with $50.3m in online bets.

Land-based betting

The state’s land-based sportsbooks made up $2.7m of the state’s total betting revenue in April from $23.9m in bets.

The Rivers Casino in Des Plaines took $11.9m in bets and generated $1.1m in revenue making it the land-based leader for April.

The only other land-based sportsbook to take more than $200,000 in revenue was DraftKings at Casino Queen, with the sportsbook generating $761,689 in revenue from $4.2m in bets.

FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing took $545,966 in bets and generated $24,566 in revenue. Meanwhile, Hawthorne Race Course and its PointsBet sportsbook took $1.2m in bets and held onto $140,292.

What did people bet on?

Basketball was the most popular sport to bet on for the month of April with more than $173.6m in handle. This was also the top revenue producer for sportsbooks in the state with $9m in betting revenue.

Baseball followed with $121m in sports betting handle and generated $8.3m in revenue for operators.

Bettors in the state wagered $116.4m on parlay bets, which in turn generated $19m in revenue.

Sportsbooks took $15.2m in golf bets and generated $2.5m in revenue from those bets, while soccer bets totalled $31.1m with more than $2m in revenue.

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