Soccer Is The Number One Sport People of Illinois Are Betting On This Fall

Soccer Is The Number One Sport People of Illinois Are Betting On This Fall

Call it a hiccup. COVID-19 got in the way of the start of the sports betting industry in Illinois. It makes sense to a point if you don't blame it on bad timing. Restrictions and protocols related to social distancing and public gatherings have been in place for quite some time now. So, when the first brick and mortar legal sportsbook opened, it stands to reason that it wasn't packed to standing room only. However, now that it has been in place for a while and Illinois bettors have figured out how to access the facility to place their bets, the hiccups are gone.

Gaming Board Reports High Betting Stats

According to the Illinois Gaming Board, over $61.8-million was bet by gamblers throughout the state from the period that spanned from the first bet in March, through the COVID shutdown period, into the reopening phase and right to the end of July 2020. That figure sets the pace as it is part of the first sports wagering revenue report issued by the IGB. The report goes on to point out that the lions share of that total handle, about $52.5-million, moved in July. The reason? That was when American sports leagues launched their post-COVID shutdown restart programs. Oh, and it is interesting to note that the figures quoted in the report only reflect traffic at two sportsbooks as that was all there were at the time. Rivers Casino in Des Plains and the Argosy Casino Alton have since been joined by five more sportsbooks at casinos in the state as well as one in Stickney at the Hawthorne Race Course.

How The State Benefits From Sportsbooks

The state of Illinois has a 15% tax on sportsbook revenue and from the period between March and the end of July, that generated something in the neighborhood of $610,000 for the state. There is an additional 2% sports betting tax on casinos in Cook County which saw the Rivers Casino add an extra $47,600 to the state. If this rate increases, and it is anticipated to do so with sports betting on NFL games and additional traditional "winter" sports events, the state stands to collect a significant amount of revenue.

Didn't We Mention Soccer A While Ago?

Yes, soccer has been popular. It has been the most popular sport to bet on attracting $24.8-million in bets. Baseball was second ($18.5-million), with boxing/mixed martial arts third ($5.7-million), golf fourth ($5.6-million), and basketball fifth ($4.2-million). Football had not started their season, so only $100,000 had been bet with much of that spent on future prospects. But that is expected to change as NFL games draw the highest percentage of the US gambling handle according to the American Gaming Association. The AGA says NFL betting totals a third of all betting activity in some states.

Illinois Expected To Rival Nevada

Experts give their nod to Illinois as fast becoming a sports betting industry hotbed of activity. The numbers are trending to where some of the industry leaders are looking to Illinois to either rival Nevada's numbers or exceed them. Nevada currently has an annual handle in the $5-billion range. New Jersey is an example of how this can happen. Just barely two years after the Garden State legalized sports betting, the handle in August 2020 alone was just about $668-million setting a single-day record for any US state. The trend continues when you add Indiana. They legalized sportsbooks just a year ago and September 2020 saw a handle of just under $167-million.

Mobile Betting Apps Are Exploding

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that there is a market out there for sports betting in America. All you have to do is legalize it and the money that once went offshore starts to trickle into your state coffers. But why is there such a hurdle to getting sports betting legalized? Sometimes it is related to very old, outdated legislation that still is in force today. Other times it is fear. Some states still see gambling as an addiction and not entertainment. Those states are the ones that may never fall under the fold of legalized gaming states in our lifetime. However, the growth within the industry has spawned a subsidiary industry. Mobile betting apps are fast becoming game-changers. Not only are there more of them being developed and released to the general public, but most mobile betting apps have also contributed to the success of legalized sports wagering. Even in Illinois, this has been the norm where Rivers Casino saw over 90% of the handle noted above coming from online bettors using a betting app.

Casinos Were Given A Head Start

To be fair, Illinois lawmakers did give established casinos a window to get online with their sportsbooks. A grace period of 18-months was granted to hold off the expansion of such industry players as FanDuel and DraftKings. Whether or not that was enough time is hard to say. With technology moving ahead so fast these days, you'd think a gambling app would be a natural extension to your average casino operation. With the potential competition from the likes of FanDuel and DraftKings, you would think that would be incentive enough to try anything possible to hold onto any size piece of the sports betting pie. And this is why you see exotic bets, special offers, bonuses, and whatnot used to pull betting customers away from one site to another.

In Conclusion

Provided lawmakers in Illinois follow the examples of New Jersey and Indiana, the Land of Lincoln can easily become a big player in the online sports betting game. The population base is there. An established gambler-friendly atmosphere already exists. The stats also verify that Illinois gamblers bet big and often. If the local casinos and sportsbooks can keep bettors interested, they won't have reasons to go anywhere else to spend their betting dollars. With Illinois gamblers supporting their own local facilities, they will help generate the revenues needed for the state to conduct several rebuilding plans to bolster the economy and way of life in parts of the state that need it most.