Oct 23, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Chase Brown (2) celebrates his touchdown run with teammates against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the first half at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Illinois sports betting surpasses $1 billion

The state of Illinois broke the $1 billion mark for sports betting for the first time during the October.

A recent report issued by the Illinois Gaming Board showed that Illinois sportsbooks took in $1.03 billion in bets in the month of October which marked the first time the billion dollar mark was broken in a single month. Illinois joined New York, New Jersey, and Nevada as the only states to break the $1 billion barrier in a single month.

The $1.03 billion reported in October was a 19 percent increase from the $831.8 million reported in September. While handle saw a 19 percent increase revenue took an even bigger leap, up 30 percent from $78.4 million in September to $102.1 million in October. The increase in revenue was thanks to a 9.9 percent hold rate. That was up from a 9.4 hold rate reported in September.

The most popular sportsbook in Illinois during the month was FanDuel Sportsbook with $328.6 million in betting handle. That put them just ahead of second place DraftKings Sportsbook which reported $324.1 million.

To no one’s surprise football, both the NFL and college, saw the heaviest action of all sports in October. Football betting accounted for $358.2 million in sports betting handle in the month. That was more than double the $114.4 million bet on basketball which came in second place during the month. Parlays were also a popular bet with bettors dropping $259.3 million on them in October.