April Revenue Fall Doesn’t Stop Illinois From Claiming the Second Spot

Sports betting in the US saw Illinois clinching the second spot in April. This was even though a steep decline in the volume of sports wagering figures was registered on a month-by-month basis. A record in itself saw only another state joining the bandwagon of achieving the goal of accruing over 500 million dollars for the April handle. New Jersey is the only other state than Illinois that has earmarked a record run. The factor attributed to the declining figures of wagering was the seasonal slowdown expected across most of the US market. Thereby affecting sports betting in all likelihood. The in-person registration procedure that began on the 4th of April was another reason cited by the PlayIllinois analysts. 

The online sportsbooks and retail figures for Illinois betting recorded a drastic fall of 15.2 percent in April, registering earnings to the tune of 537.2 million dollars. At the same time, the March figures recorded 633.6 million dollars. The drop in figures for betting volume was considerably lower, raking in 17.3 million dollars per day over 31 days. In comparison, the exact statistics for March registered 20.4 million dollars per day. The adjusted figures for gross revenue were even down from 44.3 million dollars in March to 43.6 million dollars for the April handle. While the state taxes summed up to 6.5 million dollars, and local taxes amounted to 527,100 dollars. Ever since the launch of sports betting in 2020, the state has coughed up 4.1 billion dollars through wagering. 

One of the analysts with PlayIllinois.com, Joe Boozell, has shared his declining April figures. He cites the absence of significant holidays for sports betting as that of March Madness or the NFL. Thus, corroborating how the decline was evident given the jinx of in-person registration back with a bang. One that would cap the ceiling of the market without a designated solution. A legislative fix is ascertained to be the only way out of the mess. The legalized sports betting platform for the US saw the ten largest markets barring one reporting a month-on-month decline for its wagering figures in April. The declining figures were considerably higher for Illinois than New Jersey, which registered a (-13) percent drop. Tennessee reported (-13.6) percent, Pennsylvania recorded (-14.4) percent, steeper than Colorado, Virginia, or Indiana. Ones that recorded figures of (-18.8), (-22.1), and (-25.4) percent respectively. 

A PlayUSA.com network analyst, Jessica Welman, corroborated how resilient a market Illinois is given its remarkable performance in conquering its inconveniences. Ones that are related to the in-person registration whammy. She was quick to retort how the in-person registration worked to counter the effects in the short term. But in the longer term maintaining pace with the top markets across the nation will be a challenge for Illinois. The temporary removal of the wagering ban across state college teams is going to act as a pause.