The Illinois Gaming Board reported $1.6 billion in sports betting handle for October on Friday as the Land of Lincoln joined New York and New Jersey as the only states to reach that benchmark in the post-PASPA era.
Handle was up 11% from last year despite a 15.9% decline in the volume of wagers — nearly 6.4 million — as the state’s per wager surcharge tax continues to impact betting. FanDuel and DraftKings, which are paying the higher 50-cent surcharge per wager after crossing 20 million accepted bets in the current fiscal year, saw declines of 25.6% and 26.8%, respectively.
The surcharge generated $14.7 million in receipts for the state in October, lifting the four-month total since being enacted at the start of the fiscal year to $35.3 million. Adjusted gross revenue totaled $135 million, resulting in $41.5 million being redirected to state coffers. The $126.8 million in gross operator winnings resulted in a 7.9% hold for the month.
Illinois also joined New York as the only states to surpass $1 billion in state-specific sports betting tax revenue in the post-PASPA era.
The parlays always find a way
The wager surcharge shows multiple things can be true simultaneously in Illinois: wagering is down and handle is up. That tracks for parlay wagering, the bread and butter for revenue generation among the state’s 10 mobile operators.
The year-over-year volume of mobile parlay wagers dipped 11.3% to 21.1 million. DraftKings and FanDuel accounted for 86% of parlay volume in October 2024; that share slipped to 75.8% as the 6.3 million multi-leg bets accepted by DraftKings represented a 34.1% downturn from a year ago.
And yet, the $539.5 million worth of accepted parlay wagers by the group of 10 was an all-time monthly high and up 26% from last year. The average parlay wager increased 37% to $25.38 compared to the $18.52 reported for October 2024.
DraftKings had a 30.4% surge in parlay handle to $186.9 million; FanDuel’s increased a more modest 3.7% to $199.3 million. But the $29.88 average parlay wager placed by DraftKings bettors was nearly double the $15.11 from a year ago. FanDuel, which had an 11.2% downturn in parlay volume to 9.7 million bets placed, saw its average wager climb 16.7% to $20.47.
The second tier makes an impact
Fanatics, BetMGM, and bet365 also played a role in the shifting demographics of parlay wagering in Illinois. The rise of Fanatics may result in it being the most closely watched mobile sportsbook as it is pacing to reach the 50-cent wager surcharge at some point during the fiscal year.
Its volume of parlay wagers more than doubled compared to last year to more than 1.5 million; an operator has to average 1.67 million overall wagers to hit the 20 million wager threshold to trigger the higher surcharge. Fanatics’ parlay handle increased 31.7% to $44.3 million, but its average parlay wager slumped 39.1% to $28.83 compared to $47.33 in 2024.
BetMGM had a 17.1% drop in parlay wagering volume to 697,200, but its handle ticked 4.3% higher to $21.1 million. Its average wager climbed 25.8% from last year to $30.22, an increase of more than $6.
Bet365 has made an instant impact in its first year in Illinois and is also tracking towards the 50-cent surcharge. It is hard to tell given the year-over-year rise in handle whether the England-based sportsbook is siphoning off customers, but it accepted more than 1.2 million multi-leg bets and generated $26.3 million handle, good for an average wager of $21.39.
In terms of parlay performance, October was a good yet middling month for the house. The $77.3 million in revenue was nearly double compared to a year ago, but operators had a collective 14.3% hold. DraftKings was the top earner on the multi-leg wagers with $27.5 million, closely followed by FanDuel at $26.5 million. Neither powerhouse, though, achieved a 15% win rate in October.
Talking taxes
As the industry waits on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to either sign or veto a 2026 budget bill that he did not create but contains his proposed 10.25% tax on city-based operator revenue, the $68.6 million in operator winnings generated in Cook County for the month comes back into focus. Johnson’s office estimated $26.3 million in annual tax revenue from the levy, which was based on Chicago generating 40% of county-based revenue.
Using that percentage as scale, the city would have seen an inflow of more than $2.8 million into its coffers in October. Cook County revenue is running 20.4% ahead of last year’s pace with $610.5 million through the first 10 months of 2025. That would have generated $25 million in city taxes.
At the state level, FanDuel and DraftKings are paying 35% taxes on revenue. DraftKings entered the bracket in October after reporting $49.4 million in revenue, while FanDuel crossed $150 million in fiscal-year winnings with $46 million AGR. Fanatics became the third operator to move off the 20% floor rate as its $10.2 million in October revenue pushed it over the first threshold — $30 million — and into the 25% bracket.
FanDuel and DraftKings have also shouldered most of the burden of the per wager surcharge tax with a combined $28.4 million in fiscal year remittance. That accounts for more than 80% of the $35.3 million generated, but October was more lopsided as both titans were the only ones paying the higher 50-cent surcharge. Their $12.4 million in payments represented 84.5% of the $14.7 million remitted overall.
