Illinois Sees 4th Straight Month of Bet Count Drops as New Bill Introduced to Repeal Tax Increase

Sportsbooks in Illinois processed 27.6 million fewer bets between September and December compared to the same period last year and now lawmakers are looking into repealing a per-bet sports betting tax that could be at the root cause of the drop in wager counts. 

Rep. Daniel Didech has filed House Bill 5143, which would repeal Illinois’ per-bet sportsbook tax — $0.25 on the first 20 million wagers and $0.50 thereafter. The bill comes as official data show ticket counts declining even when handle remains resilient, indicating bettors are placing fewer but larger wagers to offset rising costs.

Illinois opted to impose a 25-cent “privilege” tax on wagering licensees for each mobile or online bet up to 20,000,000 bets and 50 cents on each bet after that.  And to date, the change has been disastrous for Illinois' sports betting sector with a 15% drop already observed in November of this past year. 

The Prices Passed Down to Consumers 

Some operators charge an extra “transaction fee” built into each wager. For example:

• FanDuel (Illinois users) began charging $0.50 per wager starting September 1, 2025.
• DraftKings implemented a surcharge of $0.25 or $0.50 per wager, depending on bet type/size or user status.

Some operators chose not to add a per-bet fee, but instead increased the minimum bet amount for Illinois bettors. For example:

• BetMGM instituted a minimum bet of $2.50.
• Hard Rock Bet raised minimum to around $2.00.

Some others set higher minimums (e.g., $10) to avoid the per-bet surcharge.

Local bookmakers, daily fantasy sports, prediction markets and offshore sportsbooks see newfound opportunities in the Land of Lincoln as a result.

Recent Performance

September

• 2024: 33.6 million bets
• 2025: 28.5 million bets
• Change: –15%
• Handle: + $120 million YoY (+9.2%)

October

• 2024: 38.1 million
• 2025: 32.1 million
• Change: –16%
• Handle: + $160 million YoY (+11%)

November

• 2024: 40.1 million
• 2025: 33.9 million
• Change: –15%
• Handle: + 124 million YoY (+8.1%)

December

• 2024: 38.4 million
• 2025: 28.8 million
• Change: –25%
• Handle: – $50 million YoY (-3.4%)

States such as Arizona should take notice as they look to impose a 45% tiered tax on sports betting, up from 10%. 

• Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher