The Illinois Gaming Board reported $1.07 billion in traditional sports betting handle for February, the sixth consecutive month it cleared the $1 billion benchmark.

Handle was up 22.3% compared to the previous February, an increase of $195.2 million, as Illinois was $10.5 million shy of overtaking New Jersey for second place among states that have reported figures. The $83.5 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue increased by nearly the same percentage from 12 months prior — 22.1% — as the 7.8% hold was practically flat year-over-year.

The state collected more than $12.5 million in tax receipts, lifting its two-month total for 2024 to $32.8 million. Cook County, which is home to Chicago and has a 2% levy on revenue generated within its limits, saw an inflow of $921,855 into its coffers for the month.

The $218.8 million in taxable revenue for the first two months of the year is up 33% compared to the same period in 2023. Had Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed 35% tax rate been in place starting at the beginning of the calendar year, the state would have received an additional $43.8 million worth of receipts.

The governor proposed more than doubling the tax rate from 15% on operators in February as part of his $52.7 billion Fiscal Year 2025 budget. The Governor’s Office estimated the 35% rate would generate an additional $200 million in tax revenue.

1 New York $1.78B
2 New Jersey $1.08B
3 ILLINOIS $1.07B
4 Nevada $711.9M
5 Ohio ~$672M
6 Penn. $661.7M
7 Virginia $545.1M
8 Mass. $542.5M
9 Colorado ~$537M
10 Maryland $442.6M#SportsBettingX #GamblingX

— Chris Altruda (@AlTruda73) April 9, 2024

The Illinois Gaming Board did not provide Super Bowl LVIII-specific breakouts in its February numbers, but the betting public had a good month in single-event football wagering. Operators reported a combined loss of nearly $2.4 million from $69.1 million in completed handle, resulting in a hold of -3.4%.

Bettors hammered FanDuel in particular, walking away with close to $3.8 million on top of the $18.8 million wagered through its sports betting app. That was a stark contrast to DraftKings, which won $1.2 million from $28.4 million handle and notched a 4.3% win rate for the month.

FanDuel was not alone among mobile sportsbooks that finished in the red for football bets in February. Caesars absorbed a hit of $510,000 from $3.4 million worth of wagers, resulting in a rough -15% hold. Bettors placing action through BetRivers came out $26,300 ahead, while those who bet through Circa Sports won $20,944 above the $563,454 wagered.

Though BetMGM finished sixth in overall handle among the eight mobile options in Illinois, it ranked third for football handle at $4.1 million. It also had a healthy 15.9% win rate on those bets, reaping $648,075.

What FanDuel lost in football, it more than compensated with its bread-and-butter — parlay wagering. The mobile juggernaut won nearly $27 million from multi-leg bets, crafting a 20.8% hold against $129.6 million.

That represented almost 85% of its state-leading $31.8 million in overall revenue. FanDuel held off DraftKings for the top spot by less than $390,000 as its eternal rival collected $31.4 million based on an 8% win rate against $392.6 million handle.

BetRivers reclaimed the No. 3 spot for mobile handle with $71.3 million and did so in comfortable fashion. ESPN BET was fourth at $57.4 million and Caesars rounded out the top five at $55.2 million.

BetRivers also grabbed the final podium spot for revenue, winning $5.2 million while attaining a 7.4% hold. ESPN BET had a 7.5% win rate in claiming $4.3 million in revenue, and Caesars won $2.1 million with a 3.7% hold.

Fanatics Sportsbook‘s predecessor PointsBet had the highest hold among the eight mobile books at 9.1%, winning $3.8 million from $41.6 million handle. BetMGM had a 7.3% hold from $49.1 million worth of wagers to collect $3.6 million. Circa eked out the smallest of wins, coming out only $3,145 ahead from $7.8 million handle while posting a 0.04% hold.

The overall mobile hold was 7.9% on $1.05 billion worth of wagers as the group of eight collected $82.2 million in winnings.

Excluding parlays, which accounted for 64.4% of all revenue, basketball was the largest source of operator winnings at $13.7 million. The house, though, was limited to a 3.1% hold on $457 million handle from completed events. Tennis ranked second at $5.6 million, with operators crafting a 6.2% win rate from $92.3 million worth of bets.

The catch-all “other” category rounded out the top three for revenue at $4.2 million. The combined hockey and soccer revenue totaled $5.9 million from $81.2 million handle, and operators picked up $1.6 million in revenue from golf while posting a 10.2% win rate. William Byron being an unexpected winner of the Daytona 500 contributed to the house collecting $322,000 worth of motor events revenue on a robust 33.2% hold of $970,000.