BetMGM and Hard Rock Bet are introducing minimum wager thresholds for IL sports betting in response to Illinois‘ tax hike.
Starting Wednesday, BetMGM requires all Illinois sports betting customers to stake at least $2.50 on all wager types, including straight bets, parlays, Same Game Parlays, round robins, and bonus bets. BetMGM notified customers of the change earlier this week.
Hard Rock Bet implemented a similar policy, requiring a $2 bet minimum that similarly applies to all bet types.
Both moves come after Illinois’ updated tax structure took effect on July 1.
IL sports betting tax rate soars
Under the revised law, mobile sportsbooks must pay a fee of $0.25 on each of the first 20 million bets placed annually. That rate increases to $0.50 per bet beyond the 20 million mark.
The per-wager fee was added to Illinois’ sports betting tax framework during this year’s budget process, less than a year after the state replaced its previous flat 15% tax with a graduated system.
That earlier change raised the effective rate to as high as 40% for market leaders, nearly tripling the tax burden on operators like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Sports betting apps respond
FanDuel was first to announce a $0.50 fee per bet in Illinois, effective Sept. 1. DraftKings followed with the same plan shortly after. The two are the only operators that have accepted more than 20 million bets in a year in Illinois.
Both companies cited the cumulative impact of back-to-back tax hikes as the reason for passing some of the cost on to customers and have said they will remove them if the state reverses its policy.
Fanatics also announced a surcharge, though at a lower rate. The company said it will charge Illinois users $0.25 per wager, a move observers noted may reflect the operator’s lower expected bet volume relative to the 20 million threshold.
As of Wednesday, the remaining licensed mobile operators in Illinois — Caesars, bet365, BetRivers, Circa and ESPN Bet — had not announced any minimum bet requirements or per-wager fees.
More changes ahead?
Illinois regulators are also moving forward with a proposal to ban the use of credit cards for sports betting deposits, extending an existing restriction already in place for casino and VLTs.
The Illinois Gaming Board advanced the proposal earlier this year, and it was formally published in the July 11 edition of the Illinois Register. A public comment period is open through August 25. If approved by the state’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, the ban would apply to both retail and online sportsbooks.
Illinois would join at least six other states that already prohibit credit card funding for sports betting accounts.
