According to data released by the Illinois Gaming Board, Illinois sportsbooks made a killing during the Super Bowl. Based on reports from the Gaming Board, punters in the state bet a total of $60.5 million on the Big Game that took place between the Bengals and Rams. The Los Angeles Rams would end up defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI causing both punters and sportsbooks to rake it in.
In total, Illinois sportsbooks brought in $9.5 million, which would generate $1.43 million for the state in tax revenue. During the last Super Bowl that took place between the Buccaneers and Chiefs, sportsbooks generated a total handle of $45.6 million and total revenue of $7.66 million. For most of the sportsbooks, the 23-20 turned out to be the best-case scenario.
That’s because the Bengals were a particularly popular moneyline wager. However, it appeared that there was more coinage on the Rams for the spread. Thanks to this, the Rams’ win would end up being a positive for many operators. As you can expect, the majority of the eagers came from mobile wagers- approximately 90% of all the bets placed were done online.
Illinois had mandated in-person sports betting registration since April last year. Although this hasn’t stopped the growth of the market, Illinois’ $60.4 million Super Bowl revenue may seem slightly lower compared to other states like Pennsylvania and New Jersey, for example. But this makes sense since in-person registration has not yet been lifted.
After last year’s Super Bowl battle between the Buccaneers and Chiefs, residents only had 2 months to register for new accounts online before Pritzker deferred the executive order. The good news though is that in-person registration will be disbanded by March 5th this year, which will probably result in even more revenue generation in the coming Super Bowl 2023.
Illinois boasts 6 sportsbooks namely BetRivers, Barstool, FanDuel, PointsBet, Caesars by William Hill, and DraftKings. DraftKings led the pack with $21.5 million, which was followed by FanDuel: $17 million. BetRivers came in third place, producing $9.6 million. PointsBet found itself smack in the middle of the revenue table with a handle of $5 million while Barstool trailed closely with $4.8 million.
The remaining handle, however, was generated from brick-and-mortar sportsbooks. Although Illinois did not perform as well as other states, the $60.4 million Super Bowl revenue generated by the state was still quite impressive as the state is still relatively nascent.
Since sports betting debuted in Illinois, DraftKings and FanDuel have emerged as clear leaders. At present, DraftKings boasts a market share of 38% while FanDuel follows closely with a share of 29%. Even though the Illinois market is still young, it is featured regularly among the top 3 sports betting markets in total handle.
Based on data shared by the Illinois Gaming Board, punters in the state wagered $779.8 million wagers in November, as well as $78.2 million in operator revenue, which was a record. Now that in-person registration is going to be lifted on March 5th, the convenience of registering online should be a boon to the young market and will help to ensure even more growth in the future.
What we cover
New Operators Joining the Market Soon
The good news is that new operators will soon join the budding Illinois sports betting market. For instance, BetMGM Sportsbooks was recently awarded a license by the Illinois Gaming Board. BetMGM applied for the license in September 2020.
BetMGM gained market access to the Illinois sports betting market through its partnership with Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria, which is operated by Boyd Gaming. The opportunity to gain market access presented itself suddenly when FanDuel switched its license affiliation last spring to Fairmount Park Racetrack. As soon as online registration is made official on March 5th, BetMGM is expected to start offering its mobile sports betting offering to residents.
Other States Also Performed Well
This year’s Super Bowl generated positive results for almost every state that offers legal sports betting. For instance, Nevada generated almost $180 million in wagers while New Jersey generated almost $144 million. Mississippi, on the other hand, made almost $6.4 million while Montana made close to $700,000.
Nevada smashed and exceeded its previous record with more than $21 million. Sportsbooks in the state profited 15.4 million of the total revenue that was generated, which was a rise of 22.6% compared to the same period last year. Sportsbooks in New Jersey, on the other hand, walked away with $7.8 million after expenses and winning bets were paid out. This was a drop from the $11.3 million that Garden State profited from last year.
Illinois, on the other hand, saw an improvement this year when it took in $15 million more in Super Bowl wagers compared to last year’s event. The casinos and sportsbooks in Illinois earned $9.5 million as revenue as a result, which was a boost compared to the $7.6 million that the state generated last year. Montana’s handle also increased by 41% compared to last year’s Super Bowl when it kept a revenue of $267,971.
New York, alternatively, shattered all expectations. According to GeoComply, punters in New York made 80.1 million Super Bowl-related dealings, which is more than double last year’s Super Bowl activity. GeoComply also states that approximately 5.6 million sports betting accounts were accessed during Super Bowl weekend, which was a rise of 95% compared to the same period last year.
Currently, New York boasts 7 licensed sportsbooks. The revenue table in New York is topped by FanDuel and DraftKings. However, other heavyweights such as BetMGM and Caesars are also available for punters in the Empire State.
Because more and more states approved legal sports betting last year, this year’s Super Bowl was bound to be successful for both punters and sportsbooks. The American Gaming Association had predicted that punters would wager $7.6 billion on the NFL game between the Rams and Bengals and punters did not disappoint.
