The Illinois Gaming Board reported nearly $878 million in traditional sports betting handle for August on Friday as sportsbooks in the Land of Lincoln had a middling performance.
The completed events handle was $865.2 million, with the difference likely represented by college and NFL futures wagering. Traditional handle was up nearly 30% compared to August 2023 and 13.5% from the $773.7 million reported in July. Illinois will likely finish August second to New York for handle as only Arizona has yet to report figures for the month.
Operators, which included Hard Rock for both retail and mobile betting after their late August debuts, totaled close to $59.2 million in adjusted gross revenue. That was an increase of 26.1% from 12 months prior, but also down 17% from July as the 6.7% hold was nearly 2.5 percentage points lower.
