Illinois sportsbooks took less money in April than a year earlier, but operators still kept more of what bettors wagered. Revenue rose, tax collections jumped, and the state stayed above $1 billion in monthly handle for a seventh straight month.
Good To Know
Illinois sports betting handle fell again in April, but sportsbooks turned a stronger win rate into a better revenue month.
The Illinois Gaming Board reported $1.21 billion in combined online and retail handle. That total cleared $1 billion for the seventh month in a row, though it fell nearly 13% from March. NCAA and conference basketball tournaments helped make March a larger betting month.
Year over year, April handle dropped 5.5%. Illinois has now posted four year over year handle declines in 2026.
Revenue moved the other way. Sportsbooks generated $129 million in adjusted revenue, helped by a 10.7% hold. That was the best Illinois sportsbook win rate so far in 2026 and well above the 8.5% hold from April 2025.
The month still had plenty of sports inventory. Bettors had the Final Four, NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, a full MLB month and the Masters. Even so, online bet count dropped sharply. Illinois residents placed more than 24.9 million online bets, down 25% from last April.
Bet volume has declined every month since mobile sportsbooks began passing the Illinois per wager tax to customers last fall.
DraftKings led Illinois online operators with $418.5 million in April handle and $44.4 million in adjusted revenue. Both figures came in slightly above last April.
FanDuel handled $333.6 million and generated $43.3 million in adjusted revenue. FanDuel did that on about 20% less handle than DraftKings because it posted a 13% hold, compared with DraftKings at 10.6%.
Together, DraftKings and FanDuel accounted for nearly 69% of the $127.2 million in online adjusted revenue reported in April.
Fanatics Sportsbook ranked third by handle with $129.2 million. Its betting volume fell by $14 million from April 2025, but adjusted revenue still rose 10% year over year to $9.7 million.
BetRivers produced $7 million in revenue from $62.3 million in handle, good for an 11.2% hold. BetMGM took $65.9 million in bets and kept $6.6 million, while bet365 handled $60.2 million and generated $6 million. Both finished with a 10% hold.
Illinois tax collections rose much faster than betting handle because operators kept more revenue and the state uses a progressive tax structure.
Sportsbook revenue faces a tax rate between 20% and 40%, depending on operator revenue. Illinois also charges online sportsbooks 25 cents per bet for the first 20 million wagers and 50 cents per bet after that.
Those two tax layers brought the state $57.9 million in April, up 49.6% from the same month last year.
Operators paid $10.9 million in per wager tax for the second consecutive month. Year to date per wager tax collections reached $43.1 million. DraftKings paid $5.3 million in April per wager tax, while FanDuel paid $4 million.
| Operator | April Handle | Adjusted Revenue |
| DraftKings | $418.5 million | $44.4 million |
| FanDuel | $333.6 million | $43.3 million |
| Fanatics Sportsbook | $129.2 million | $9.7 million |
| BetMGM | $65.9 million | $6.6 million |
| BetRivers | $62.3 million | $7 million |
| bet365 | $60.2 million | $6 million |