Illinois Reports $285 Million In September Sports Betting

It's not only legalized marijuana that's having a big year in Illinois, as legalized sports gambling has firmly taken hold in our state.

With over a quarter billion dollars wagered in September on sports of all types here in Illinois, the first 3 full months of sports gambling has provided the State of Illinois with around $3 million in revenues.

Governor Pritzker's office says they think that revenues could eventually total more than $100 million.

Illinois still has quite a road ahead to catch up with some other states in this department. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, since a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing legal sports betting outside Nevada, 20 states now host legal waging on sporting events. New Jersey leads the way in sports betting, posting $803 million in bets in October. The Illinois Gaming Board has yet to release October numbers for the state.

Gamblers can place bets on sporting events at seven of Illinois' casinos and one horse racing track. The state's most lucrative casino and its first to start taking sports bets, Rivers in Des Plaines, accepted about $105 million in wagers in September, the most of any Illinois casino.

However, since the easing of an earlier rule that required sports gamblers to register for accounts in person at a casino (the governor removed that roadblock due to COVID-19 restrictions, allowing bettors to register online from their phones and start wagering immediately), state officials say that 92% of wagering was done via mobile phones.