In the spring of 2019, the Illinois state legislature passed a bill that allowed Illinois sports betting at riverboat gambling establishments, horse racetracks, and choose sports facilities. Online sports wagering gotten here in June 2020 with the launch of the BetRivers sportsbook.
This timeline provides a snapshot of Illinois' sports betting history:
March 13, 2026: Illinois gamblers placed 28.9 million bets in January, below 36 million throughout the same month in 2025.
March 6, 2026: An Illinois lawmaker wants to require forecast market platforms to be licensed and pay state taxes to the tune of 50% of their adjusted gross income.
Feb. 6, 2026: An Illinois lawmaker wishes to rescind a per-wager tax on online sports betting operators less than eight months after the Prairie State instituted the law.
Jan. 16, 2026: Sports wagering reached an all-time high in Illinois for the second successive month with online and retail sportsbooks producing a manage of $1.66 billion, a brand-new record.
Jan. 12, 2026: The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) associates a 2nd 15% year-over-year drop in Illinois sports wagering to the Prairie State's 25 cent per-wager tax, with 6.4 million fewer bets put.
Dec. 31, 2025: The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) verified that it filed a suit in Cook County and a demand for a short-term restraining order versus the city's brand-new licensing requirements.
Dec. 23, 2025: Illinoisans set a new state sports wagering record with $1.6 billion in wagers throughout October, going beyond the previous handle high of $1.53 billion set in November 2024.
Dec. 23, 2025: The NHL's Chicago Blackhawks are the first U.S.-based significant expert sports franchise to partner with a forecast market platform, revealing a pact with Kalshi.
Dec. 22, 2025: Gilbert Villegas, a Chicago city council member, informs the Chicago Tribune that the increase of sports betting taxes earlier this year in Illinois has actually already resulted in the decline of sports wagers.
Nov. 17, 2025: The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) declares Illinois' per-wager tax caused a 15% year-over-year drop in September online betting in the Prairie State with 5 million less wagers placed.
Nov. 17, 2025: Sports wagering was up 9% year-over-year in Illinois throughout September, but income in the very first complete month of football dropped off significantly.
Oct. 21, 2025: Chicago desires to include its own new tax on Illinois sports wagering, a move that state legislators are working to prevent.
Oct. 17, 2025: The sports betting market faces a danger of yet another Illinois tax walking with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson presenting his 2026 budget plan proposition to the City board, consisting of a new "Online Sports Wagering Tax."
Oct. 16, 2025: Illinois sportsbooks created over $100 million in revenue for the eighth time in the last 12 months, taking 82% more earnings in August than in the exact same month in 2024.
Sept. 24, 2025: The Sports Betting Alliance is sounding the alarm over a proposed per-bet tax in Chicago, which would remain in addition to the one enforced by Illinois lawmakers in July.
Sept. 24, 2025: Despite a low-volume month with mostly MLB to carry betting, the Illinois Gaming Board reported an $862.5 million handle in July, placing the market second nationally behind only New York.
Sept. 10, 2025: Following Illinois ending up being the first state to implement a per-bet tax, a ranking of Illinois' sportsbooks by costs, minimums from many to least tolerable by Covers' Ryan Butler.
Sept. 2, 2025: All 10 sports wagering operators have officially reacted to the per-wager cost used by Illinois lawmakers this summer season, with bet365 the last operator to take action.
Aug. 26, 2025: Caesars Sportsbook will be the current sportsbook to start charging a $0.25 fee on each online wager in Illinois, beginning Sept. 1.
Aug. 20, 2025: PENN's Chicagoland retail residential or commercial properties and ESPN BET have ended up being main partners of the Chicago Bears.
Aug. 19, 2025: Illinois' sports betting operators produced their most significant win rate ever, leading to 33% year-over-year profits growth in June.
Aug. 14, 2025: ESPN BET raises its minimum wager in Illinois to $1 (from $0.10).
Aug. 4, 2025: The Illinois Gaming Board reveals boosted and consistent marketing guidelines for three aspects of betting: gambling establishments, video gaming, and sports wagering.
July 31, 2025: Licensed online sportsbooks in Illinois are reacting to the new per-bet tax and what it may cost wagerers.
July 17, 2025: Illinois' eighth successive $1 billion month-to-month handle moved the state into an elite club, joining New York and New Jersey as the only three U.S. states to reach $50 billion in total bets because the Supreme Court reversed PASPA in 2018.
July 15, 2025: BetMGM sets a $2.50 minimum bet in Illinois after the state's new tax changes.
July 15, 2025: Illinois is getting closer to formally prohibiting using credit cards in connection with sports betting.
July 10, 2025: Illinois Attorney General Of The United States Kwame Raoul predicts that the state will eventually legislate online gambling establishment gaming, with factor to consider possibly being provided in 2026.
July 2, 2025: The WNBA's Chicago Sky partnered with online safety firm Moonshot to fight online hate, harassment, and abuse targeting players and coaches.
June 19, 2025: The WNBA's Chicago Sky announced a multi-year collaboration with bet365 sportsbook, making them the fifth WNBA group with a sports betting partner.
June 18, 2025: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker states Illinois' budget plan, which includes brand-new tax rate on every online sports wager, showcases state's "hard-earned financial duty" with the state imposing a $0.25-per-wager rate for the first 20 million wagers, $0.50 after.
June 17, 2025: April produces an 18% year-over-year sports wagering earnings boost in Illinois, with the Prairie State's online and retail sportsbooks taking in $108 million on an over $1 billion deal with.
June 17, 2025: Lawsuits versus forecast market operator Kalshi, and the trading platforms Robinhood, Susquehanna, and Webull, started to turn up throughout the U.S. this month, with suits submitted in 5 states, consisting of Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts and South Carolina.
June 16, 2025: An online study carried out by Covers recommends the 50-cent cost that DraftKings and FanDuel are preparing to charge in Illinois could curb betting by some clients.
June 12, 2025: DraftKings, much like rival FanDuel, prepares to charge its customers a 50-cent charge in reaction to the per-bet tax Illinois lawmakers just recently approved.
June 10, 2025: FanDuel-parent Flutter is alerting that Illinois' brand-new per-bet tax "will disproportionately impact lower betting recreational consumers while also punishing those operators who have invested the most to grow the online regulated market in the state."
June 10, 2025: FanDuel moms and dad company Flutter Entertainment will set up a 50-cent additional charge on all wagers in Illinois, in reaction to Illinois' current tax walking, which will charge sportsbooks 25-to-50 cents per accepted wager in addition to the 20-to-40% revenue tax.
June 4, 2025: A just recently carried out DraftKings surcharge on sports bets dealt with such scrutiny that public pressure forced the business to abandon its ideas.
June 3, 2025: Despite pushback from major operators, Illinois is progressing with a substantial modification to its sports betting tax structure, with rates ranging from 20% to 40% to replace the flat 15% tax on sports betting income.
June 3, 2025: With the 157th edition of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course set for Saturday, Caesars Entertainment announced it has added pari-mutuel horse racing wagering into its sportsbook in Illinois and Indiana.
June 2, 2025: Illinois has been hit by another tax for online sportsbooks - the new tax, efficient July 1, will be 25 cents per wager for the first 20 million bets taken in the state in any given fiscal year, and then 50 cents per wager after that.
May 27, 2025: Illinois lawmakers are dealing with pressure as proposals to legislate online casinos have actually stalled before the May 31 adjournment.
May 20, 2025: BetMGM has seen a 157% manage boost on the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl winner futures market considering that Chicago native Robert Prevost was announced as the brand-new Pope.
May 15, 2025: Illinois bettors bet 34.7% more sports betting dollars in March 2025 than in the exact same month of the previous year, but win rate listed below 7% stunted income growth.
April 28, 2025: An Illinois male won $350,000 in bets at a casino in Indiana and $450,000 at a casino in Iowa amounting to $800k, however those casinos, run by Caesars Entertainment, decline to pay those profits, declaring he broke home guidelines and anti-money laundering policies.
April 24, 2025: Illinois sports betting regulators relocate to prohibit the usage of credit cards.
April 21, 2025: An operator-friendly Super Bowl LIX outcome in Illinois led to a 53.1% year-over-year February earnings boost.
April 2, 2025: Illinois concerns cease-and-desists orders to forecast business Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com, signing up with a list of growing states to do something about it versus these grey-area books.
March 17, 2025: Illinois lawmakers are thinking about the legalization of online gaming, also called iGaming, as the state faces a prospective deficit spending and financial uncertainty.
March 17, 2025: Illinois gamblers still can't put bets on the two in-state individuals in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, thanks to a restriction that prohibits all wagers involving Prairie State teams.
March 16, 2025: bet365 goes live in Illinois ahead of March Madness, becoming the tenth online sportsbook available in the Prairie State.
March 14, 2025: Illinois January sports betting handle is up 14.6% every year, highlight a boost in online betting to begin 2025.
Feb. 12, 2025: Illinois December sports wagering revenue falls nearly 18% year-over-year compared to December 2023. However, the state generated 75% more tax revenue for the whole of 2024 compared to the previous year.
Jan. 15, 2025: Illinois sets a new monthly record for sports wagering manage and profits in November, gathering $137.2 million in benefit from $1.53 billion bet.
Dec. 18, 2024: bet365 receives an Illinois sports betting license to run a retail and online sportsbook, assisting it partner with Walker's Bluff Casino Resort.
Dec. 17, 2024: Illinois' income drops in October regardless of making a record sports wagering deal with.
Nov. 18, 2024: Illinois set a brand-new regular monthly sports wagering income high, as the Illinois Gaming Board reported a September handle of $1.31 billion, up 21.3% year-over-year and 50% month-over-month.
Oct. 25, 2024: The NFL demands a restriction on prop bets that are "vulnerable to control" in Illinois, such as the very first play of the game, the first pass to be incomplete, and a player missing out on a basket.
Oct. 22, 2024: Illinois sports betting action increases 30% year-over-year in August, leading to nearly $60 million in adjusted earnings.
Sept. 17, 2024: The Illinois Gaming Board introduces brand-new betting advertising guidelines that will use to local gambling establishment and video gaming operators for the very first time.
Aug. 26, 2024: Acid rock Bet goes reside in Illinois, making it the ninth online operator in the state.
Aug. 12, 2024: Illinois' operators produce an 11% hold in spite of the state's shrinking sports wagering handle in June.
Aug. 1, 2024: DraftKings is set to present a tax on winning bets in Illinois.
July 9, 2024: Illinois' billion-dollar deal with streak grows to nine months, as the state eclipsed $1.02 billion in wagers in May.
June 25, 2024: The Chicago Blackhawks partner with Circa Sports to sponsor a main home jersey spot during the next NHL season.
June 18, 2024: Illinois' April deal with presses past New Jersey for the second-biggest sports betting total in the U.S. for the month.
June 18, 2024: Illinois lawmakers safeguard sports betting tax hike in 2025 budget.
June 4, 2024: Illinois Governor signs the new progressive sports betting tax rates into the state's 2025 budget and will officially come into result on July 1, 2024.
May 28, 2024: Analysts state response to sports betting tax walkings is overblown, specifying Illinois is a "state-specific" case.
May 27, 2024: Major sportsbooks would "reevaluate" their Illinois presence if the state's sports betting tax walking becomes law.
May 16, 2024: Illinois' March basketball action increases 23% year-over-year, helping sportsbooks generate nearly $1.3 billion in month-to-month handle.
May 3, 2024: Illinois presents an expense to block Dave & Buster's bets on game video games following the company's current statement to allow betting between customers on choose games.
April 5, 2024: Fanatics Sportsbook officially goes on the internet in Illinois.
Feb. 23, 2024: Following Gov. Pritzker's announcement of a proposed tax hike on sports betting recently, Covers' own Geoff Zochodne wonders if a sports betting tax walking in Illinois could put a damper on the state's market?
Feb. 22, 2024: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker proposes sports betting tax hike to combat deficit spending, as raising taxes from 15% to 30% would provide an extra $100 million to the state.
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Illinois Sports Betting: Best Illinois Sportsbooks In 2026
kinakhan253725 edited this page 2026-04-30 21:41:35 +00:00