Takeaways from the Illinois July Sports Betting Report

IL sportsbooks had their worst month in nearly a year in July, but that followed in line with what most states saw during the summer months.

Don’t be too concerned. For July, Illinois’ total handle of $369.1 million was down 22.5% from June’s $476.5 million, but help is on the way in the form of NFL betting that begins tonight when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the Dallas Cowboys.

The Chicago Bears are at the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Illinois has been the last state to report monthly sports betting figures, with some states already putting out August figures. Here are three key takeaways about IL gambling in the July report, posted Thursday by the Illinois Gaming Board.

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Illinois Sports Betting Handle, July vs. June

Mobile Still Strong in Illinois

The July mobile sports betting handle was 95.2% of the market, a slight uptick from June. The mobile handle of $351.4 million was down 22.2% from June’s $451.7 million.

With COVID-19 numbers rising in many states again, could Illinois bring back mobile registration? in-person registration returned to Illinois in April.

Revenue, Tax Numbers Fall

In June, despite a drop in sports betting handle, the state saw revenue and taxes increase. That wasn’t the case in July.

Sports betting revenue was $37.61 million, a 20.8% drop from June’s $47.5 million, which was near the state record. The hold stayed around 10% in July.

State taxes collected were down, also. July sports betting taxes came in at $6.1 million, a 20.9% decline from June’s $7.7 million.

Fourth Straight Month of Declines

Illinois saw its fourth straight month of sports handle decline. But that falls in line with what the U.S. overall has seen. It was the second month this year the handle fell below $500 million.

The total U.S sports handle for July was about $2.8 billion, down 23.9% from June’s $3.7 billion.

The summer doldrum numbers should change quickly with the NFL regular season beginning Thursday.