Illinois Sports Bettors Set State Record; Iowa Gets New Sportsbook Operator
There’s sports betting news from Illinois and Iowa.
First, from Illinois. Sports betting is hot in the state. The Illinois Gaming Board reported recently that gamblers placed a state record $1.03 billion in sports bets in November, beating the previous state record of $1.029 billion set in October.
Illinois’ November sports betting handle was third in the nation behind only New York ($1.6 billion) and New Jersey ($1.1 billion). Only four states have had a monthly sports betting handle that has topped $1 billion. Illinois has joined New York, New Jersey and Nevada.
Back in March
Before Illinois’ record-breaking October sports betting handle, the previous state record was $971 million in March, the same month a change in state law allowed residents to sign up online for sports books in addition to a land-based casino. That change has sparked an impressive growth spurt in Illinois sports betting.
Speaking of casinos, the top casino for sports betting in Illinois in November was FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing in Collinsville, with a handle of $345,273,098. That handle created $43,827,568 in revenue for the sportsbook and $7,007,955 in state and local tax revenue.
Right behind the Collinsville casino was DraftKings at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis. The handle there was $324,155,225, which produced $27,035,478 in revenue for the sportsbook and state and local tax revenue of $4,291,515.
Illinois’ seven sportsbooks generated more than $15.5 million in state and local tax revenue in November. For the year, the sportsbooks have generated more than $114 million in state and local tax revenue. Since sports betting became legal in Illinois in June 2019, it has generated nearly $219 million in state and local tax revenue.
Tipico in Iowa
Next door in Iowa, a new sportsbook operator has gotten approval to launch there from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. Tipico USA Technology is accepting bets in Iowa. Tipico was previously operating in New Jersey, Colorado and Ohio. The Tipico app can be downloaded from the Apple and Google Play stores. Iowa sports bettors are being offered sign-up benefits like a $250 deposit match and free bets.
“We’re thrilled to grow our footprint and give Iowa customers access to our proprietary product and competitive offering,” said Adrian Vello, Tipico CEO, who made it a point to note that “Tipico’s functionality is run from within the U.S. and customer service based in New Jersey.”
Tipico has gotten increasingly active in the sports betting industry in recent years. Starting in July 2021, Tipico became the sports betting and iGaming partner for Gannett, publisher of USA Today and hundreds of other newspapers across the country.
Tipico is the sports betting partner of Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew, it has partnered with the state of Colorado for a Tipico technology lab there, and it has partnered with AEG Presents, the world’s second-largest presenter of live music and entertainment events behind only Live Nation.
