Sports betting has spread like wildfire across the US over the past four years. It was in March 2018 that the US Supreme Court agreed to strike down PASPA. This was on the back of tireless lobbying from New Jersey, and the ruling effectively left each US state free to decide for itself on whether to legalize sports betting.
Naturally, New Jersey was first to do so, and now, more than 30 states allow sports betting in one form or another. Illinois legalized in-person betting in March 2020, adding online wagering in March 2022. Last year, New York added online sports betting to its existing in-person provisions and in so doing, became the largest sports betting market in the USA.
Illinois surpasses New Jersey as a sports betting superpower
In the year to date, New York and New Jersey have been the top sports betting revenue generators, with Illinois sitting a solid third. All that changed in August 2022. Figures recently published by the Illinois Gambling Board show that gross gaming revenue for the month was up nine percent on July to $565 million. That exceeded the $557 million generated in New Jersey.
Even more significant, the figure was 40 percent higher than August last year, reflecting just how important online betting platforms are to the industry.
What are people betting on?
Naturally, with the regular season about to get underway, football dominated the sports betting in August as fans placed wagers on the opening week and also lay down some outrights on the overall season. But it’s not all about the football. Minds were also turning to the NBA, with the season opener only a few short weeks away and the best NBA betting sites tuning up their NBA pre-season specials.
In fact, whether it is due to changing tastes or the indifferent form of the Bears in recent years, NBA is now a firm second behind baseball in the hearts and minds of Illinois sports fans.
Revenue continues to grow
All things are relative of course – MLB, NBA, NFL, all still have passionate followings in Illinois, and many soccer fans will be getting behind the national team at the forthcoming World Cup, too. In short, the state’s position as the second biggest sports betting revenue generator is unlikely to be a temporary one. As well as taking the second place spot, Illinois’ sports betting sector passed an important landmark as July turned to August, hitting $1 billion in online wagers.
All these huge numbers sound like good news for the sports books, but they also bring benefits to the people of Illinois. The industry has generated almost $175 million for Illinois in tax revenue since going live in 2020, around $70 million of which was generated in 2022 alone.
Illinois might be the second largest market, but it still looks like a drop in the ocean compared with nationwide sports betting statistics. Since legalization began, Americans have wagered more than $157 billion on sport, generating betting revenue that has just hit $12 billion.
