The Illinois Gaming Board reported $113.9 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue for June on Monday, putting one of the finishing national touches on a month all but certain to set a post-PASPA record for highest hold.
The near-12% hold bested the previous high of 11.2% set in June 2024 as sportsbooks reported $950.2 million in traditional handle. Amazingly, Illinois’ win rate ranks 24th out of the 31 states that have published June handle and revenue figures to date. With only Arizona outstanding, Nevada is currently the only state with a single-digit hold, and its 8.5% win rate for the month ranks eighth in its annals.
Perhaps more stunningly, Illinois dragged down the national hold for the month by almost six-hundredths of a percentage point (.06) to 12.4% as commercial sportsbooks have reported more than $1.13 billion in revenue against $9.12 billion handle.
The eye-watering national hold is currently tracking seven-tenths of a percentage point higher than the current post-PASPA record of 11.7% set in September 2018 with only $817.3 million handle. At that time, five U.S. jurisdictions offered legal digital sports betting as compared to more than 35 now.
The state claimed $41.5 million in tax receipts for June, completing its first fiscal year with progressive tax rates ranging from 20-40% with $428.9 million. The inflow into state coffers increased a $261.9 million compared to FY 2024 with a flat 15% tax rate.
The taxman cometh for almost all
| Operator | FY 2025 Revenue | FY 2025 Taxes | FY 2024 Revenue | FY 2024 Taxes | Difference in Tax Revenue |
| FanDuel | $509,553,291 | $184,821,316 | $447,943,844 | $67,191,577 | $117,629,739 |
| DraftKings | $438,488,742 | $156,395,497 | $379,193,333 | $56,879,000 | $99,516,497 |
| Fanatics | $105,420,505 | $27,900,237 | $52,746,479 | $7,911,972 | $19,988,265 |
| BetRivers | $69,603,614 | $16,881,084 | $77,230,996 | $11,584,649 | $5,296,435 |
| BetMGM | $59,054,897 | $13,716,469 | $61,799,404 | $9,269,911 | $4,446,558 |
| Caesars | $39,909,999 | $8,477,500 | $33,301,899 | $4,995,285 | $3,482,215 |
| Hard Rock Bet* | $15,836,080 | $3,167,216 | $0 | $0 | $3,167,216 |
| bet365** | $14,952,263 | $2,990,453 | $0 | $0 | $2,990,453 |
| ESPN BET | $42,238,126 | $9,059,532 | $47,547,770 | $7,132,166 | $1,927,366 |
| Circa Sports | $587,457 | $117,491 | $1,691,394 | $253,709 | ($136,218) |
| TOTALS | $1,295,644,974 | $423,526,794 | $1,101,455,120 | $165,218,268 | $258,308,526 |
| *Launched August 2024 | **Launched March 2025 |
As Illinois’ 10 digital sportsbooks brace for and look to counteract the $0.25 per-wager surcharge that took effect July 1 with the start of the new fiscal year, the review of the past 12 months from a tax-revenue standpoint from the state showed Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker posting a huge win. Operators who take more than 20 million bets will be taxed $0.50 on every bet over 20 million.
Pritzker originally proposed raising the state’s tax rate from 15% to 35% to raise $200 million in additional revenue for the FY 2025 budget. The switch to a progressive tax came during late negotiations at the state house. It is the first true one solely for sports betting, and resulted in nearly $62 in tax revenue million above the governor’s initial proposal. As the table shows, FanDuel and DraftKings combined to surpass Pritzker’s ask by themselves as they spent much of the fiscal year paying the maximum 40% rate after surpassing $200 million AGR.
The progressive tiers did not make much of a difference in what FanDuel and DraftKings paid in taxes versus the proposed 35% flat rate. FanDuel’s remittance was nearly $6.5 million higher; DraftKings paid $2.9 million more.
In the current structure, DraftKings and FanDuel are the only two companies paying the 40% tax rate. Fanatics was the only other mobile sportsbook to advance to the 35% tier as its $8.3 million haul for June pushed it over $100 million AGR for the fiscal year. BetRivers and BetMGM both reached the 30% tier late by clearing $50 million in winnings.
Circa was the only legacy operator not to move off the 20% floor, while newcomers Hard Rock Bet and bet365 did not reach the $30 million threshold in their first fiscal year of operations to progress to the 25% rate. Caesars and ESPN BET finished the fiscal year being taxed at 25%.
Projecting surcharge rates
| Operator | Fiscal Year 2025 Wagers | $0.25 Surcharge Total | $0.50 Surcharge Total | Total Wager Surcharge |
| FanDuel | 163,839,893 | $5,000,000 | $71,919,947 | $76,919,947 |
| DraftKings | 147,127,176 | $5,000,000 | $63,563,588 | $68,563,588 |
| BetMGM | 16,465,850 | $4,116,463 | $0 | $4,116,463 |
| Fanatics | 16,437,593 | $4,109,398 | $0 | $4,109,398 |
| BetRivers | 12,407,421 | $3,101,855 | $0 | $3,101,855 |
| ESPN BET | 10,095,334 | $2,523,834 | $0 | $2,523,834 |
| Caesars | 7,525,508 | $1,881,377 | $0 | $1,881,377 |
| Hard Rock Bet* | 5,534,136 | $1,383,534 | $0 | $1,383,534 |
| bet365** | 5,003,193 | $1,250,798 | $0 | $1,250,798 |
| Circa Sports | 409,507 | $102,377 | $0 | $102,377 |
| TOTALS | 384,845,611 | $28,469,636 | $135,483,535 | $163,953,171 |
| *Launched August 2024 | **Launched March 2025 |
With a full fiscal year of data in terms of the volume of wagers placed, a baseline on the surcharges each operator would pay also comes into focus. While FanDuel and DraftKings were the only mobile sportsbooks to reach the 20-million wager threshold to trigger the $0.50 surcharge, it appears possible BetMGM, Fanatics, and bet365 could also clear that benchmark and trigger the higher surcharge late in Fiscal Year 2026.
Eight of the 10 operators have announced plans to counteract the surcharge with one of their own or a minimum bet amount, with Circa’s $10 bet minimum the most recent reveal. Caesars and bet365 have yet to do so, but look for each book to make an announcement at some point over the next two weeks since regulations do not require an operator to deliver monthly figures to the IGB until the end of the following month.
Much like the progressive tax, FanDuel and DraftKings look to shoulder the overwhelming burden of the surcharge — a combined 88.7% of the $163.9 million generated had it been in place for FY 2025. In adding those surcharge totals to their respective fiscal year remittances, the digital titans would have faced effective tax rates of 51.4% and 51.3%, respectively. That narrowly eclipses the 51% they are paying to operate in New York, which is the highest taxed state in the U.S.
