All About Sports Betting Handle And Revenue in Illinois

By Jim Tomlin

@jdtomlin68

February 6, 2026 11:45am

The experts at IllinoisBet.com have assembled this guide to explain what we mean when we talk about financial figures from Illinois sportsbooks, which include handle, revenue and tax collections.

The sports betting market in Illinois includes retail sportsbooks at the state’s casinos, plus mobile sports betting apps.

In the financial language of sports betting, handle is simply the total of all sports wagers made in the state during one calendar month. The handle can be specified as either retail (in person) or online (using a device such as a laptop, desktop or mobile phone). In Illinois, bettors wager hundreds of millions of dollars each month – sometimes more than a billion dollars – and the vast majority of the action is on Illinois betting apps.

Revenue is what is left for the gambling operators after winnings are paid out. The tax collections from sports gambling is determined by a 15% tax rate (plus additional taxes for wagers placed in Cook County and the City of Chicago) that is applied to the operators’ Revenue.

Sport gambling in the Land of Lincoln was legalized in 2019 with the Sports Wagering Act. The first legal sports bet was placed in March 2020.

Illinois Sports Betting, December vs. November

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Illinois sports betting handle cleared $15 billion in 2025, the first time that has happened in the state’s history, thanks to December’s intake.

The Illinois Gaming Board website released December sports betting data on Feb. 6, indicating a downturn in month-over-month numbers but still a strong finish to the year.

First, the year in summary. Illinois sportsbooks took $25.65 billion in handle for 2025, up 11.7% from 2024 (when the amount of wagers accepted was just over $14 billion). The revenue derived from legal, regulated sports betting in the Land of Lincoln rose even more sharply, increasing 21.6% from $1.214 billion in 2024 to $1.477 billion last year.

As for December, the total sports betting handle was $1,441,094,025, down 13.0% from November’s record $1,656,687,204. The amount of wagers accepted in December was still the fifth-highest total of 2025 and the No. 8 month all time in the state. The mobile handle was $1,409,335,595, a 12.9% decrease from $1,618,631,789 in November, which is also a record.

The adjusted gross revenue (AGR) fell 5%, from November’s $169,061,222 to $160,541,796 in December. The mobile sports betting revenue was $156,822,957 for the final month of 2025, a 5.5% dip from $165,956,175. Both November revenue totals also set state records.

But December did hold one record in store. The total sports betting tax hit $70,798,870 in the final month of the year, a 1.3% increase from November ($69,900,911).

Illinois Mobile Sports Betting History