KEY TAKEAWAYS
Key Numbers: Illinois Sports Betting in 2025
Bettors in Illinois wagered about $15.65 billion on sports in calendar year 2025, according to the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) 2025 Annual Report. That is 11.7% more than the roughly $14.01 billion wagered in 2024. Sportsbooks reported $1,476,523,893 in adjusted gross receipts (AGR), up 19.7% on the year.
Almost all of it happened on phones and computers. Online wagering accounted for about 97.7% of handle and 97.9% of AGR. The IGB describes Illinois as the second-highest grossing sports wagering market in the country behind New York.
This article compiles the IGB’s 2025 calendar-year figures for handle, AGR, statewide tax and the new per-wager tax, breaks handle down by sport and bet type, and compares every metric with 2024. Licensee names appear only as the IGB reports them. Data as of November 2026.
Handle, AGR and Taxes: How Illinois Reports Them
The IGB publishes sports wagering data by licensee, by channel (in-person and online) and by event type. The key terms are:
- Handle — the total amount wagered. The annual report shows handle by event category (professional sports, college sports, motor races and other events) and by sport.
- Adjusted gross receipts (AGR) — the IGB’s taxable revenue measure for sportsbooks, reported as “Statewide AGR.” It is the amount sportsbooks keep from wagers under Illinois’ definition, not profit.
- Statewide tax — the state tax on AGR. Under Public Act 103-0592, a graduated tax structure replaced the flat 15% rate starting in fiscal year 2025, according to the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA).
- Per-wager tax — from July 1, 2025, online sportsbooks pay $0.25 per wager on the first 20 million wagers placed with each licensee and $0.50 on wagers beyond 20 million, under Public Act 104-0006.
Two definitional points matter. First, AGR and handle are calendar-year totals here, while COGFA reports fiscal years that run July to June; the two are not interchangeable. Second, the “hold” figures below are WagerFacts’ calculation of AGR as a share of handle, not a rate the IGB publishes.
Illinois Sports Betting Handle and Revenue: The 2025 Data
The table compiles the IGB’s statewide totals for 2025 and 2024. Handle is summed from the IGB’s event-category tables; AGR and tax come directly from its revenue tables.
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total handle | $15,652,028,934 | $14,012,948,436 | +11.7% |
| Online handle | $15,292,324,371 | $13,628,697,737 | +12.2% |
| In-person handle | $359,704,563 | $384,250,699 | −6.4% |
| Statewide AGR | $1,476,523,893 | $1,233,050,505 | +19.7% |
| Online AGR | $1,446,210,627 | $1,207,024,746 | +19.8% |
| In-person AGR | $30,313,266 | $26,025,759 | +16.5% |
| Statewide tax | $479,643,314 | $266,641,580 | +79.9% |
| Per-wager tax (Jul–Dec 2025) | $62,197,887 | — | new |
Two derived ratios summarize the year. The first is the share of handle that sportsbooks retained as AGR.
where:
AGR = statewide adjusted gross receipts for the year
handle = total amount wagered in the same year
For 2025: $1,476,523,893 ÷ $15,652,028,934 × 100 = 9.4%. For 2024 the same calculation gives 8.8%. Online wagering returned 9.5% of handle as AGR in 2025 and in-person wagering 8.4%. Statewide tax equaled 32.5% of AGR in 2025; adding the per-wager tax, the two taxes together equaled 36.7% of AGR.
The IGB also reports the number of wagers by event category. Summed, Illinois sportsbooks accepted about 355.8 million wagers in 2025, which puts the average amount per wager at roughly $43.99 (handle ÷ number of wagers).
Handle by Sport and Bet Type
Parlays are the largest single category in Illinois’ sport-by-sport table. In 2025, parlay handle was $4.86 billion, or 31.1% of all money wagered, up from 29.3% in 2024. Basketball was the largest single sport.
| Category | 2025 handle | 2025 share | 2024 share | Change in handle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parlay (sports) | $4,862,283,760 | 31.1% | 29.3% | +18.5% |
| Basketball | $3,389,689,158 | 21.7% | 23.2% | +4.2% |
| Football | $2,134,947,942 | 13.6% | 15.2% | +0.6% |
| Baseball | $1,546,977,185 | 9.9% | 10.1% | +9.8% |
| Other (sports) | $1,174,423,593 | 7.5% | 6.1% | +37.8% |
| Tennis | $1,147,852,882 | 7.3% | 7.5% | +9.9% |
| Soccer | $649,161,671 | 4.1% | 4.0% | +14.9% |
| Hockey | $318,872,390 | 2.0% | 2.3% | −0.3% |
| Golf | $210,194,134 | 1.3% | 1.2% | +24.7% |
| Boxing/MMA | $122,895,887 | 0.8% | 0.9% | −4.9% |
| Motor races and other events (incl. parlays) | $94,730,330 | 0.6% | 0.3% | +113.7% |
Share is each category’s handle divided by total handle for the same year. Football handle was nearly flat (+0.6%) while total handle grew 11.7%, so football’s share fell by 1.5 percentage points. Parlays, the “other” sports bucket, golf and soccer gained share. By event type, professional sports drew $13.54 billion (86.5% of handle) and college sports $2.01 billion (12.9%).
2025 vs. 2024: What Changed
Revenue grew faster than betting volume. Handle rose 11.7%, but AGR rose 19.7%, because the share of handle retained by sportsbooks went from 8.8% to 9.4% — a rise of 0.6 percentage points. In-person handle fell 6.4% while online handle grew 12.2%.
Taxes rose much faster than either. Statewide tax increased 79.9%, from $266.6 million to $479.6 million, reflecting the graduated rate structure that began in fiscal year 2025 (July 2024) and applied to all of calendar 2025 for the first time. The per-wager tax added $62.2 million in its first six months.
College sports handle grew 4.1%, slower than professional sports at 12.5%, so its share of the total slipped from 13.8% to 12.9%. Note also that the 2024 AGR used here ($1,233,050,505) is the figure restated in the 2025 Annual Report; the 2024 Annual Report showed $1,233,147,618, a difference of about $97,000.
Methodology & Limitations
Datasets. Illinois Gaming Board, 2025 Annual Report (calendar year 2025, with 2024 comparisons) and 2024 Annual Report (calendar year 2024); COGFA, 2025 Update: Wagering in Illinois (fiscal year 2025, for the tax-structure change). All accessed November 2026.
Calculations. Total handle = the sum of in-person and online handle for professional sports, college sports, motor races and other events, Tier 1 and Tier 2 combined, as listed in the IGB tables. The by-sport table sums to the same total within $2 (cents rounding). Online handle = total handle minus in-person handle. Percent change = (2025 − 2024) ÷ 2024 × 100. AGR as % of handle = AGR ÷ handle × 100. Tax ratios = tax ÷ statewide AGR × 100. Average wager = handle ÷ total number of wagers reported.
Limitations. AGR as a share of handle is a WagerFacts calculation; Illinois’ AGR definition may differ from “gross gaming revenue” in other states, so cross-state hold comparisons need care. The statewide tax column excludes the separate Cook County distributions the IGB reports. The per-wager tax covers only July to December 2025. Figures can be revised in later reports.
Key Figures at a Glance
The main 2025 Illinois sports wagering figures, with their period and source, are collected below for quick reference.
| Figure | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Total handle | $15.65 billion | Calendar 2025 |
| Statewide AGR | $1.48 billion | Calendar 2025 |
| AGR as % of handle | 9.4% | Calendar 2025 |
| Online share of handle | 97.7% | Calendar 2025 |
| Statewide tax | $479.6 million | Calendar 2025 |
| Per-wager tax | $62.2 million | Jul–Dec 2025 |
| Parlay share of handle | 31.1% | Calendar 2025 |
Related Data
To place Illinois in the national picture, see U.S. sports betting handle and revenue for 2025. The largest market, New York, is covered month by month in the New York mobile sports betting data. For another state’s sports wagering alongside casino and iGaming revenue, read the New Jersey gambling revenue and taxes for 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources & References
- Illinois Gaming Board — 2025 Annual Report, calendar year 2025 (accessed November 2026)
- Illinois Gaming Board — 2024 Annual Report, calendar year 2024 (accessed November 2026)
- Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability — 2025 Update: Wagering in Illinois, fiscal year 2025 (accessed November 2026)
- Illinois Gaming Board — Sports Wagering Monthly Reports (accessed November 2026)
