Illinois Sports Betting Handle Goes Over $789 Million for December

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Richard Janvrin

Last Updated: Feb 4^th, 2022 Rate & Review this Casino

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Illinois Sports Betting Handle Goes Over $789 Million for December

Illinois continues to be one of the top sports betting states in the country as it finished in the Top 3 for handle in December.

The sports wagering handle for the month—behind only New Jersey and Nevada—was $789,600,348 in Illinois, which was a 1.2% increase from November’s $779,853,367.

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Year over year, top Illinois sportsbooks are up 60.6% compared to the December 2020 total was a more-than-respectable $491,720,536. These increasing numbers show that residents are finding more ways to wager on sports in Illinois.

Rounding out the Top 5 in sports-betting revenue for the final month of 2021 were Pennsylvania ($750.4 million) and Michigan ($514.6 million).

Revenue Numbers Down Dramatically in December

Online sports betting indicates the amount of money the online sportsbooks make. So, with December’s number being lower than in November, you can deduce that people won more bets.

Sportsbooks' November revenue was $79,327,385, a state record, but December saw a 57.5% decrease, landing at $33,685,291.

This resulted in a drop in the state tax, with Illinois bringing in $5,437,735 as opposed to $12,754,131, according to figures from the Illinois Gaming Board.

While there were still only four Sundays for NFL action in December, remember, December is also a holiday month, so these numbers are intriguing nonetheless.

In Illinois, there are ways to wager on sports in person, but the numbers indicate an overwhelming majority prefer online as mobile sports betting accounted for $752,864,251 of the $789,600,348—95.3%.

Illinois Sports Betting Handle, December vs. November

Month	Total handle	Mobile Handle	Revenue
December	$789.600M	$752.864M	$33.685M
November	$779.853M	$745.967M	$79.327M
Change	Up 1.2%	Up 0.9%	Down 57.5%

Pro Sports Top December Betting Chart

Illinois’ betting chart has three categories: pro sports, college sports, and motorsports. Of the $789.6 million wagered, pro sports accounted for $614,189,688 in December, with college sports coming in second with $175,213,037. Motor races accounted for just under $200,000.

Though the Chicago Bears missed the NFL playoffs, the month of December is bound to draw in more bettors. Postseason NFL betting sites are popular all over the country, even when the home team isn’t playing.