It has been revealed that the state of Illinois has seen record revenue for iGaming throughout the month of October. According to reports, the sports betting handle reached $435 million for the month, and that is a significant figure for a period of four weeks.
A Nationwide Increase
This figure was part of a nationwide sports betting figure of $3.25 billion for October. Overall, it equates to a rise of 12% from the month of September alone, and that is huge.
Reasons for the Increase
Looking at the details, it becomes apparent that mobile betting is playing a huge role in this increase in Illinois. The state is temporarily allowing people to create accounts remotely due to the pandemic, but this is something that is anticipated to become law and permanent in the near future.
Apparently, up to 90% is linked to mobile sports betting, and even though that is due to restrictions on land-based betting thanks to the pandemic, it still represents a huge percentage.
Out of the different operators, it was BetRivers that came out top for profits and revenue with them netting themselves a cool $12.9 million win. Next was DraftKings who had a win of $11.5 million, and that’s perhaps a bit of a surprise considering the sheer size of their platform and what they offer their clients.
However, that is because the net win doesn’t tell the full story. Out of the top two, it was DraftKings that brought in the biggest handle at $141 million compared to $116 million. It also seems that the reason why DraftKings was left with a lower figure at the end was due to a more aggressive promotions campaign resulting in more money being paid out in an attempt to bring in new players throughout the month.
Tax and Moving Forward
Of course, the state is only interested in the tax that can be generated, and October would have been a good month in that regard. In fact, the state managed to bring in $6.3 million in tax for that one month. Considering the drop in revenue from elsewhere, there’s little doubt that this was a welcome boost to the finances.
Also, it should be noted that October won’t be the best month either as initial reports indicate that November is going to outpace what was achieved in the month preceding. This is partly being put down to the impact that the NFL would have on sports betting, but also with the ongoing pandemic, most people are still being forced into betting online, so the handle will be even bigger over those four weeks.
Ultimately, if we look forward, then when the NBA kicks into action in December it will lead to continual increases in the size of the handle. This is great news for all involved, and even new patrons will be able to take advantage of different bonus promotions when new seasons kick off. It feels as if it won’t be long until the handle per month gets closer to $1 billion a month with the concept of $500 million a month being consigned to history.
