The Prairie State generated a $1.49 billion handle, but the operators' 6.4% hold led to the least profitable March since 2022. Illinoisans wagered 34.7% more sports betting dollars in March 2025 than in the same month of the previous year, but win rate below 7% stunted revenue growth.
Key Takeaways
The
Illinois Gaming Board reported a handle of $1.49 billion, the seventh consecutive month of at least $1 billion bet, despite state regulators not allowing wagers on in-state college teams during March Madness. However, a lack of NCAA tournament upsets led to March sadness for sportsbooks as the 6.4% hold led to $95.5 million in revenue, a 4.4% year-over-year decrease. The latest month marked the least profitable March since 2022, and only October 2024 has produced a worse win rate over the last 16 months. Favorites won at a high rate as all four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four, keeping the online and retail operators’ parlay holds across the Prairie State to 9.7%, well below the previous month’s 20% win rate on multi-leg wagers.
Year-to-date handle rises
The bulk of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments produced 28% more dollars bet in Illinois than the Super Bowl month of February. However, March revenue fell 25% from the $128 million haul in the previous month. Still, sports betting operators generated $370 million year-to-date in profits from a massive three-month handle of $4.1 billion. The amount wagered during that period was up from the $3.6 million handle in the first three months of 2024. The Land of Lincoln filled its coffers with $34.8 million, down from the $48.5 million generated in February. The year-to-date total surpassed $135 million in tax revenue for the state.
DraftKings, FanDuel surpass $400 million each
Online
sports betting in Illinois accounted for $1.45 billion of the total handle and $93.7 million in revenue. DraftKings just missed out on a $500 million handle, but the online operator generated nearly $80 million more than February’s amount wagered. A 6.2% hold led to $31.1 million, which was behind FanDuel’s $32.3 million. That mobile sportsbook saw a $90 million month-over-month handle increase to finish second in Illinois. Fanatics Sportsbook generated $154.2 million in wagers and $11 million in revenue from a 7.1% hold. BetMGM produced $6 million more in handle than BetRivers, but the Chicago-based operator made about $100,000 more than BetMGM. Caesars was the only other operator to surpass $50 million in wagers during March.
Newcomer performs well
In its first month in Illinois, bet365 generated $37.7 million and used a 7% hold to produce $2.6 million in revenue. That ranked eighth in the Prairie State behind seventh-place ESPN BET, which produced $3.2 million in revenue. The newest operator in Illinois finished ahead of Hard Rock Bet and Circa Sports in both handle and revenue.
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