Illinois sportsbooks set records for betting and revenue in March, easily reaching $600 million in monthly wagering for the first time and again surpassing Pennsylvania.
Betting at Illinois’s retail and online sportsbooks surged to $633.6 million in March, according to official data released Monday. That is up 24.3% from $509.8 million in February and easily topped the previous record $581.6 million in January. Bettors placed $20.4 million per day in the 31 days of March.
March’s high volume produced a record $49.9 million in operator revenue, topping $49.4 million in January. The month’s win created $44.3 million in taxable revenue, which yielded $6.6 million in state taxes and $493,543 in local taxes.
The NCAA Tournament was the main driver in March, generating an estimated $176.8 million in bets even as bettors were barred from wagering on Illinois and Loyola Chicago. The NBA also drew well, helping to push basketball betting to $365.7 million. The previous high for basketball in a month was $256.7 million.
Online wagering accounted for 96.1%, or $609 million, of all bets in March.
DraftKings/Casino Queen represented 32.2% of the state’s entire handle in March, generating $207.6 million in online and retail wagers. $203.9 million of March’s bets came online.
FanDuel/Fairmont attracted $195.2 million in bets — $194.9 million of which came online. BetRivers/Rivers Casino continued to lose pace with the market leaders, generating $95.7 million in online betting and $106.9 million overall.