Online and retail sportsbetting operators in Illinois reportedly had a good month in October after recording a 40.8% sequential increase in aggregated handle to reach an all-time high of $840.4 million.

According to a Wednesday report from a source citing official figures from the Illinois Gaming Board, the October tally for ‘The Land of Lincoln’ was the eighth-highest for an American state since sportsbetting began being legalized on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis following the 2018 revocation of the nation’s Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).

Celebrated company:

Illinois kicked off its own online and retail sports wagering market in March of 2020 and its combined handle for the most recent October was the third-highest for the 31-day month behind only New Jersey and Nevada, which chalked up figures of about $1.3 billion and $1.1 billion respectively, while being considerably better than the $776.3 million recorded by fourth-placed Pennsylvania. This performance purportedly helped to take the overall national figure to beyond $7.06 billion even though Arizona and Connecticut have yet to officially release their own final tallies.

Record receipts:

In terms of aggregated sportsbetting revenues and the source explained that operators in Illinois set an all-time high of just over $52.5 million for October from a hold that ballooned up to 6.26%. This purportedly made the state of approximately 12.8 million people only the third to have surpassed the $50 million single-month threshold and saw it join Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the club of those to have cleared the $7 billion historical handle mark.

Public purse:

Illinois’ performance for October, which was the 15th highest in the post-PASPA era, reportedly resulted in the state collecting a record $7.9 million in monthly tax as Cook County additionally benefitted to the tune of $570,237 courtesy of a separate 2% duty levied on all locally-generated sports wagering revenues. This purportedly took the jurisdiction’s ten-month sportsbetting tax total to over $61.8 million as its historical tally surpassed $80 million.

Prominent players:

DraftKings Incorporated reportedly topped Illinois’ club of licensed sports wagering operators for a sixth consecutive month in October when it came to handle while furthermore becoming the first to clear the $300 million mark at $310.5 million. Although FanDuel Group placed a distant second at $236.4 million, it nevertheless cleared $2 billion in all-time handle for the state and racked up table-topping revenues of $23.2 million, which was almost double its rival’s $12.9 million tally.

Other big players in Illinois for October reportedly included the BetRivers-branded service from local firm Rush Street Gaming as it saw revenues reach almost $7.8 million off of some $119.3 million in handle. There was purportedly also a record $68.7 million in handle and $2.9 million in receipts from the Barstool Sports online sportsbetting brand of Penn National Gaming Incorporated for the month while PointsBet chalked up handle of nearly $60 million alongside revenues of $3.1 million.