In the spring of 2019, the Illinois state legislature passed an expense that allowed Illinois sports wagering at riverboat casinos, horse racetracks, and select sports centers. Online sports betting arrived in June 2020 with the launch of the BetRivers sportsbook.
This timeline provides a snapshot of Illinois' sports betting history:
March 13, 2026: Illinois gamblers put 28.9 million bets in January, below 36 million during the same month in 2025.
March 6, 2026: An Illinois legislator wants to require prediction market platforms to be licensed and pay state taxes to the tune of 50% of their adjusted gross revenue.
Feb. 6, 2026: An Illinois legislator wants to rescind a per-wager tax on online sports betting operators less than eight months after the Prairie State instituted the law.
Jan. 16, 2026: Sports betting reached an all-time high in Illinois for the 2nd consecutive month with online and retail sportsbooks producing a manage of $1.66 billion, a brand-new record.
Jan. 12, 2026: The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) attributes a 2nd consecutive 15% year-over-year drop in Illinois sports wagering to the Prairie State's 25 cent per-wager tax, with 6.4 million fewer bets positioned.
Dec. 31, 2025: The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) confirmed that it filed a lawsuit in Cook County and an ask for a short-lived limiting order versus the city's new licensing requirements.
Dec. 23, 2025: Illinoisans set a new state sports betting record with $1.6 billion in wagers throughout October, surpassing the previous deal with high of $1.53 billion set in November 2024.
Dec. 23, 2025: The NHL's Chicago Blackhawks are the first U.S.-based significant expert sports franchise to partner with a prediction market platform, announcing a pact with Kalshi.
Dec. 22, 2025: Gilbert Villegas, a Chicago city board member, informs the Chicago Tribune that the increase of sports wagering taxes earlier this year in Illinois has currently caused the decline of sports wagers.
Nov. 17, 2025: The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) declares Illinois' per-wager tax triggered a 15% year-over-year drop in September online wagering in the Prairie State with 5 million less wagers put.
Nov. 17, 2025: Sports wagering was up 9% year-over-year in Illinois during September, however revenue in the very first full month of football dropped off substantially.
Oct. 21, 2025: Chicago desires to include its own brand-new tax on Illinois sports wagering, a relocation that mention legislators are working to prevent.
Oct. 17, 2025: The sports wagering industry faces a risk of yet another Illinois tax hike with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson presenting his 2026 budget proposition to the City Council, consisting of a new "Online Sports Wagering Tax."
Oct. 16, 2025: Illinois sportsbooks produced over $100 million in income for the 8th time in the last 12 months, taking 82% more income in August than in the very same month in 2024.
Sept. 24, 2025: The Sports Betting Alliance is sounding the alarm over a proposed per-bet tax in Chicago, which would remain in addition to the one enforced by Illinois lawmakers in July.
Sept. 24, 2025: Despite a low-volume month with primarily MLB to bring betting, the Illinois Gaming Board reported an $862.5 million handle in July, putting the market 2nd nationally behind only New york city.
Sept. 10, 2025: Following Illinois becoming the first state to carry out a per-bet tax, a ranking of Illinois' sportsbooks by fees, minimums from the majority of to least tolerable by Covers' Ryan Butler.
Sept. 2, 2025: All 10 sports wagering operators have formally reacted to the per-wager fee used by Illinois legislators this summer season, with bet365 the last operator to take action.
Aug. 26, 2025: Caesars Sportsbook will be the most recent sportsbook to start charging a $0.25 cost on each online wager in Illinois, beginning Sept. 1.
Aug. 20, 2025: PENN's Chicagoland retail residential or commercial properties and ESPN BET have actually become main partners of the Chicago Bears.
Aug. 19, 2025: Illinois' sports betting operators produced their most significant win rate ever, leading to 33% year-over-year profits development in June.
Aug. 14, 2025: ESPN BET raises its minimum wager in Illinois to $1 (from $0.10).
Aug. 4, 2025: The Illinois Gaming Board announces improved and consistent advertising rules for 3 facets of betting: casinos, video gaming, and sports wagering.
July 31, 2025: Licensed online sportsbooks in Illinois are reacting to the brand-new per-bet tax and what it might cost bettors.
July 17, 2025: Illinois' eighth consecutive $1 billion monthly deal with propelled the state into an elite club, joining New york city and New Jersey as the only three U.S. states to reach $50 billion in overall bets because the Supreme Court reversed PASPA in 2018.
July 15, 2025: BetMGM sets a $2.50 minimum bet in Illinois after the state's brand-new tax modifications.
July 15, 2025: Illinois is getting closer to officially banning making use of charge card in connection with sports betting.
July 10, 2025: Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul predicts that the state will eventually legislate online gambling establishment gaming, with consideration possibly being given up 2026.
July 2, 2025: The WNBA's Chicago Sky partnered with online safety firm Moonshot to combat online hate, harassment, and abuse targeting gamers and coaches.
June 19, 2025: The WNBA's Chicago Sky announced a multi-year collaboration with bet365 sportsbook, making them the fifth WNBA group with a sports wagering partner.
June 18, 2025: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker states Illinois' budget plan, which consists of new tax rate on every online sports wager, showcases state's "hard-earned fiscal duty" with the state enforcing a $0.25-per-wager rate for the first 20 million wagers, $0.50 after.
June 17, 2025: April produces an 18% year-over-year sports betting income boost in Illinois, with the Prairie State's online and retail sportsbooks taking in $108 million on an over $1 billion handle.
June 17, 2025: Lawsuits against prediction market operator Kalshi, and the trading platforms Robinhood, Susquehanna, and Webull, started to appear across the U.S. this month, with claims filed in 5 states, consisting of Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts and South Carolina.
June 16, 2025: An online study conducted by Covers suggests the 50-cent cost that DraftKings and FanDuel are preparing to charge in Illinois might suppress betting by some consumers.
June 12, 2025: DraftKings, much like rival FanDuel, plans to charge its consumers a 50-cent fee in reaction to the per-bet tax Illinois legislators just recently approved.
June 10, 2025: FanDuel-parent Flutter is cautioning that Illinois' brand-new per-bet tax "will disproportionately impact lower wagering recreational customers while likewise punishing those operators who have actually invested the most to grow the online controlled market in the state."
June 10, 2025: FanDuel moms and dad company Flutter Entertainment will institute a 50-cent surcharge on all wagers in Illinois, in action to Illinois' recent tax hike, which will charge sportsbooks 25-to-50 cents per accepted wager in addition to the 20-to-40% profits tax.
June 4, 2025: A just recently executed DraftKings additional charge on sports bets dealt with such scrutiny that public pressure forced the company to desert its ideas.
June 3, 2025: Despite pushback from significant operators, Illinois is progressing with a substantial modification to its sports wagering tax structure, with rates ranging from 20% to 40% to replace the flat 15% tax on sports wagering revenue.
June 3, 2025: With the 157th edition of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course set for Saturday, Caesars Entertainment announced it has actually added pari-mutuel horse racing wagering into its sportsbook in Illinois and Indiana.
June 2, 2025: Illinois has actually been hit by another tax for online sportsbooks - the brand-new tax, effective July 1, will be 25 cents per wager for the first 20 million bets taken in the state in any offered , and after that 50 cents per wager after that.
May 27, 2025: Illinois lawmakers are dealing with pressure as propositions to legalize online gambling establishments have stalled before the May 31 adjournment.
May 20, 2025: BetMGM has seen a 157% deal with boost on the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl winner futures market because Chicago native Robert Prevost was revealed as the brand-new Pope.
May 15, 2025: Illinois bettors bet 34.7% more sports wagering dollars in March 2025 than in the exact same month of the previous year, but win rate below 7% stunted profits growth.
April 28, 2025: An Illinois male won $350,000 in bets at a gambling establishment in Indiana and $450,000 at a casino in Iowa totaling $800k, however those gambling establishments, run by Caesars Entertainment, decline to pay out those earnings, claiming he violated rules and regulations and anti-money laundering policies.
April 24, 2025: Illinois sports betting regulators relocate to prohibit using credit cards.
April 21, 2025: An operator-friendly Super Bowl LIX outcome in Illinois led to a 53.1% year-over-year February profits boost.
April 2, 2025: Illinois concerns cease-and-desists orders to prediction business Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com, joining a list of growing states to take action versus these grey-area books.
March 17, 2025: Illinois legislators are thinking about the legalization of online gaming, likewise understood as iGaming, as the state deals with a prospective deficit spending and economic unpredictability.
March 17, 2025: Illinois wagerers still can't position bets on the two in-state individuals in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, thanks to a restriction that forbids all wagers involving Prairie State groups.
March 16, 2025: bet365 goes reside in Illinois ahead of March Madness, ending up being the tenth online sportsbook readily available in the Prairie State.
March 14, 2025: Illinois January sports wagering handle is up 14.6% annually, highlight an increase in online wagering to begin 2025.
Feb. 12, 2025: Illinois December sports wagering income falls nearly 18% year-over-year compared to December 2023. However, the state created 75% more tax income for the whole of 2024 compared to the previous year.
Jan. 15, 2025: Illinois sets a new month-to-month record for sports betting manage and income in November, gathering $137.2 million in make money from $1.53 billion wagered.
Dec. 18, 2024: bet365 gets an Illinois sports wagering license to run a retail and online sportsbook, helping it partner with Walker's Bluff Casino Resort.
Dec. 17, 2024: Illinois' revenue drops in October in spite of making a record sports betting manage.
Nov. 18, 2024: Illinois set a brand-new regular monthly sports wagering profits high, as the Illinois Gaming Board reported a September deal with of $1.31 billion, up 21.3% year-over-year and 50% month-over-month.
Oct. 25, 2024: The NFL demands a restriction on prop bets that are "prone to adjustment" in Illinois, such as the first play of the video game, the first pass to be incomplete, and a gamer missing out on a field goal.
Oct. 22, 2024: Illinois sports wagering action increases 30% year-over-year in August, resulting in almost $60 million in adjusted income.
Sept. 17, 2024: The Illinois Gaming Board presents brand-new gambling marketing policies that will use to regional casino and video gaming operators for the very first time.
Aug. 26, 2024: Hard Rock Bet goes reside in Illinois, making it the ninth online operator in the state.
Aug. 12, 2024: Illinois' operators produce an 11% hold regardless of the state's diminishing sports betting manage in June.
Aug. 1, 2024: DraftKings is set to present a tax on winning bets in Illinois.
July 9, 2024: Illinois' billion-dollar deal with streak grows to 9 months, as the state eclipsed $1.02 billion in wagers in May.
June 25, 2024: The Chicago Blackhawks partner with Circa Sports to sponsor a main home jersey spot throughout the next NHL season.
June 18, 2024: Illinois' April deal with presses past New Jersey for the second-biggest sports wagering overall in the U.S. for the month.
June 18, 2024: Illinois legislators defend sports betting tax walking in 2025 budget.
June 4, 2024: Illinois Governor signs the new progressive sports wagering tax rates into the state's 2025 budget plan and will formally enter result on July 1, 2024.
May 28, 2024: Analysts say reaction to sports betting tax hikes is overblown, specifying Illinois is a "state-specific" case.
May 27, 2024: Major sportsbooks would "reevaluate" their Illinois existence if the state's sports wagering tax walking becomes law.
May 16, 2024: Illinois' March basketball action rises 23% year-over-year, helping sportsbooks create nearly $1.3 billion in month-to-month handle.
May 3, 2024: Illinois introduces a bill to obstruct Dave & Buster's bets on game games following the business's current statement to enable betting between clients on choose games.
April 5, 2024: Fanatics Sportsbook formally goes on the internet in Illinois.
Feb. 23, 2024: Following Gov. Pritzker's statement of a proposed tax hike on sports wagering recently, Covers' own Geoff Zochodne questions if a sports wagering tax hike in Illinois could put a damper on the state's market?
Feb. 22, 2024: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker proposes sports wagering tax hike to fight deficit spending, as raising taxes from 15% to 30% would provide an additional $100 million to the state.
