The Illinois sports betting market joined a big list of states that saw handle drop in May from April.
Illinois is the 10th state to report a handle drop in May. Its $507.3 million bet was down 5.6% from April’s $537.2 million in handle. The $507.3 million marks the lowest handle since December, back when the state was still shy of breaking the $500 million mark.
Sports betting revenue also dropped in May, according to the state reports. The $36.2 million in revenue was down nearly 17% from April, though hold was still 7.1%, a tenth of a percentage point off the national average.
Sports betting in Illinois generated $5.9 million in taxes. That brings the state to $53.3 million in tax revenue since IL sports betting launched in March 2020.
May also marked the first full month of no remote registration in the state. Mobile handle dropped slightly to 95.1% in May from 95.5% in April.
Illinois sports betting biggest market to drop last month
Illinois ranked only second to New Jersey last month in terms of handle. NJ sports betting jumped nearly 9% in May over April, which leaves Illinois as the biggest state to show a loss.
May’s data compared to April is important, especially considering last year’s data is worthless with barely any major sports taking place over those months. There is always an expected handle drop in April compared to March because of March Madness betting, but there is no clear correlation between May and April this year.
One interesting point is the total handle for the two months. With just Delaware left to report, May’s US sports betting handle is just 0.1% higher than April’s:
| State | May Handle | April Handle | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | $814,270,654 | $747,986,522 | +8.9% |
| Illinois | $507,279,761 | $537,158,723 | -5.6% |
| Nevada | $477,191,062 | $454,734,387 | +4.9% |
| Pennsylvania | $447,465,027 | $479,411,021 | -6.7% |
| Michigan | $257,748,035 | $274,212,630 | -6.0% |
| Indiana | $254,445,226 | $236,403,308 | +7.6% |
| Colorado | $248,968,193 | $244,446,760 | +1.8% |
| Virginia | $226,963,573 | $236,432,524 | -4.0% |
| Tennessee | $160,900,000 | $172,400,000 | -6.7% |
| Iowa | $114,882,963 | $118,355,535 | -2.9% |
| New Hampshire | $42,367,381 | $46,700,713 | -9.3% |
| Mississippi | $36,125,896 | $32,917,836 | +9.7% |
| Rhode Island | $28,252,139 | $29,040,966 | -2.7% |
| Oregon | $27,780,213 | $25,323,061 | +9.7% |
| West Virginia | $25,484,663 | $34,449,520 | -26.0% |
| Washington DC | $13,772,411 | $10,746,937 | +28.2% |
| Montana | $4,000,000 | $3,200,000 | +25.0% |
| Arkansas | $3,687,207 | $4,065,703 | -9.3% |
| Total | $3,691,584,404 | $3,687,986,146 | +0.1% |
DraftKings Sportsbook back in the lead
DraftKings Sportsbook did not take a long break from the top of the online sportsbook leaderboard as it was back in the top spot in May.
Online handle for DraftKings totaled $166.2 million for 34.5% of online handle share. FanDuel Sportsbook, which took first place from DraftKings in April, had 32.2% of online handle with $155.6 million.
BetRivers was a distant third with $76.7 million in online bets, or 15.9% of online handle share.
It is an even more distant battle for fourth place. Barstool Sportsbook took that spot in May with $38.2 million in online handle followed closely by PointsBet with $37.4 million bet online.
