Illinois Generates $286 Million Wagered Amount During NCAA Basketball Tournaments
In the beautiful state of Illinois, sports betting enthusiasts went wild for the 2022 NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, raking in a combined staggering $286.2 million, a significant jump from the previous year. The newcomer BetMGM made a splash as the state's seventh mobile operator, shaking up the scene.
The astronomical figure surpassed the 2021 numbers when only five out of the state's six mobile operators were active. Back then, the handle was close to $177 million, with revenue of $14.8 million. Intriguingly, wagering on all college sports in March 2021 totaled a whopping $260.4 million, indicating a rising interest in collegiate basketball tournaments.
This year, the house had a tough time, with bettors scoring big by limiting operators to just $14.3 million, translating to a 5.2% win rate. The state coffers swelled, pocketing more than $2.1 million in taxes from the college basketball extravaganza.
Online wagering accounted for nearly 96% of the overall handle, reflecting the growing preference for convenience and ease of digital betting. Remote registration in Illinois commenced on March 5, the same day BetMGM took off as an operator. Despite launching just nine days before the First Four play-in round, BetMGM managed to generate a commendable $12.7 million in handle, outsmarting Caesars ($10.8 million) for the sixth spot.
Governor JB Pritzker had signed the gaming expansion bill in June 2019, legalizing sports wagering. For a 540-day period from when the first licenses were issued, in-person registration was required. However, the period was significantly interrupted due to a COVID-19 pandemic-related executive order that suspended in-person registration.
Turning our attention to the NCAA men's tournament handle, PointsBet may have been a distant third with a handle of $26.2 million, but they cleaned up with an impressive overall revenue of more than $5.7 million. Their retail tether, Hawthorne Race Course, and two off-track wagering sites contributed nearly an additional $1 million in handle, resulting in a remarkable 21.1% win rate.
FanDuel, tethered to the state's other horse racing track, was a close second with a handle of $69.7 million, generating the most in-game wagering among mobile operators with $25.2 million. The track contributed an extra $2 million in wagers to the overall total, resulting in a manageable 4.2% hold.
DraftKings led the pack with a handle of slightly over $100 million and a respectable revenue of nearly $1.8 million. Their retail sportsbook at Casino Queen underwent an extensive $10 million expansion and accepted over $2.4 million in bets.
When it comes to wagering on women's hoops, Illinois saw a total handle of $7.8 million, in which more than 97% originated online. In-game wagering accounted for around 38% of the handle, with close to $3 million in what Illinois labels Tier 2 bets being placed.
There were some surprises, as two double-digit seeds reached the regional semifinals. However, the Final Four consisted largely of formidable programs, contributing to the house limiting its losses to just $143,861. PointsBet and Hawthorne took the biggest hit, paying out $39,150 more than the $653,820 in wagers accepted. Barstool and Hollywood Aurora finished $17,765 down on $653,564 wagered, the only operator to finish with an overall loss when combined across both tournaments.
In the competitive landscape of mobile sports-betting operators in Illinois, PointsBet demonstrated impressive revenue generation during the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament, earning more than $5.7 million despite having a lower handle compared to competitors. Online in-game wagering accounted for a significant portion of the total bets placed on women's hoops in Illinois, with approximately 38% of the $7.8 million handle originating from such bets.
