Illinois Sports Betting: Best Illinois Sportsbooks In 2026
In the spring of 2019, the Illinois state legislature passed a bill that allowed Illinois sports wagering at riverboat gambling establishments, horse racetracks, and choose sports centers. Online sports wagering gotten here in June 2020 with the launch of the BetRivers sportsbook.
This timeline supplies a picture of Illinois' sports betting history:
March 13, 2026: Illinois gamblers placed 28.9 million bets in January, below 36 million during the same month in 2025.
March 6, 2026: An Illinois lawmaker wishes to force forecast market platforms to be certified and pay state taxes to the tune of 50% of their adjusted gross income.
Feb. 6, 2026: An Illinois lawmaker wishes to rescind a per-wager tax on online sports betting operators less than 8 months after the Prairie State instituted the law.
Jan. 16, 2026: Sports betting reached an all-time high in Illinois for the second successive month with online and retail sportsbooks creating a handle of $1.66 billion, a new record.
Jan. 12, 2026: The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) attributes a second consecutive 15% year-over-year drop in Illinois sports betting to the Prairie State's 25 cent per-wager tax, with 6.4 million fewer bets placed.
Dec. 31, 2025: The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) confirmed that it submitted a claim in Cook County and a request for a short-lived limiting order against the city's new licensing requirements.
Dec. 23, 2025: Illinoisans set a brand-new state sports wagering record with $1.6 billion in wagers throughout October, surpassing the previous handle 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 forecast market platform, revealing a pact with Kalshi.
Dec. 22, 2025: Gilbert Villegas, a Chicago city board member, tells the Chicago Tribune that the boost of sports betting taxes previously this year in Illinois has currently led to 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 betting in the Prairie State with 5 million less wagers placed.
Nov. 17, 2025: Sports wagering was up 9% year-over-year in Illinois during September, but earnings in the very first full month of football dropped off considerably.
Oct. 21, 2025: Chicago desires to add its own brand-new tax on Illinois sports wagering, a relocation that specify lawmakers are working to avoid.
Oct. 17, 2025: The sports wagering industry deals with a danger of yet another Illinois tax walking with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson providing his 2026 budget proposition to the City board, including a brand-new "Online Sports Wagering Tax."
Oct. 16, 2025: Illinois sportsbooks created over $100 million in earnings for the eighth 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 be in addition to the one enforced by Illinois legislators in July.
Sept. 24, 2025: Despite a low-volume month with primarily MLB to bring wagering, the Illinois Gaming Board reported an $862.5 million deal with in July, putting the market second nationally behind only New york city.
Sept. 10, 2025: Following Illinois becoming the first state to implement a per-bet tax, a ranking of Illinois' sportsbooks by fees, minimums from most to least tolerable by Covers' Ryan Butler.
Sept. 2, 2025: All 10 sports wagering operators have officially reacted to the per-wager cost used by Illinois lawmakers this summertime, with bet365 the last operator to act.
Aug. 26, 2025: Caesars Sportsbook will be the most recent sportsbook to start charging a $0.25 fee on each online wager in Illinois, starting Sept. 1.
Aug. 20, 2025: PENN's Chicagoland retail residential or commercial properties and ESPN BET have actually become official partners of the Chicago Bears.
Aug. 19, 2025: Illinois' sports betting operators produced their most significant win rate ever, resulting in 33% year-over-year profits growth 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 three facets of betting: casinos, video gaming, and sports betting.
July 31, 2025: Licensed online sportsbooks in Illinois are responding to the new per-bet tax and what it might cost gamblers.
July 17, 2025: Illinois' eighth consecutive $1 billion month-to-month manage propelled the state into an elite club, joining New York and New Jersey as the only three U.S. states to reach $50 billion in total bets since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA in 2018.
July 15, 2025: BetMGM sets a $2.50 minimum bet in Illinois after the state's new tax changes.
July 15, 2025: Illinois is getting closer to officially prohibiting making use of charge card in connection with sports betting.
July 10, 2025: Illinois Chief Law Officer Kwame Raoul anticipates that the state will online casino gaming, with consideration potentially being offered in 2026.
July 2, 2025: The WNBA's Chicago Sky partnered with online safety company Moonshot to combat online hate, harassment, and abuse targeting gamers and coaches.
June 19, 2025: The WNBA's Chicago Sky revealed a multi-year partnership with bet365 sportsbook, making them the 5th WNBA team with a sports wagering partner.
June 18, 2025: Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says Illinois' budget, that includes brand-new tax rate on every online sports wager, showcases state's "hard-earned fiscal obligation" 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 wagering income boost in Illinois, with the Prairie State's online and retail sportsbooks taking in $108 million on an over $1 billion manage.
June 17, 2025: Lawsuits against prediction market operator Kalshi, and the trading platforms Robinhood, Susquehanna, and Webull, began to pop up across the U.S. this month, with claims submitted in 5 states, consisting of Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Massachusetts and South Carolina.
June 16, 2025: An online study performed by Covers recommends the 50-cent cost that DraftKings and FanDuel are preparing to charge in Illinois might suppress betting by some customers.
June 12, 2025: DraftKings, much like rival FanDuel, plans to charge its clients a 50-cent charge in action to the per-bet tax Illinois lawmakers just recently approved.
June 10, 2025: FanDuel-parent Flutter is alerting that Illinois' brand-new per-bet tax "will disproportionately impact lower wagering leisure customers while also penalizing those operators who have invested the most to grow the online controlled market in the state."
June 10, 2025: FanDuel moms and dad business Flutter Entertainment will institute a 50-cent surcharge on all wagers in Illinois, in reaction to Illinois' recent tax hike, which will charge sportsbooks 25-to-50 cents per accepted wager in addition to the 20-to-40% revenue tax.
June 4, 2025: A just recently implemented DraftKings surcharge on sports bets faced such examination that public pressure required the company to desert its ideas.
June 3, 2025: Despite pushback from major operators, Illinois is moving forward with a considerable change to its sports wagering tax structure, with rates varying from 20% to 40% to change 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 revealed it has added pari-mutuel horse racing betting into its sportsbook in Illinois and Indiana.
June 2, 2025: Illinois has actually been hit by another tax for online sportsbooks - the new tax, reliable July 1, will be 25 cents per wager for the very first 20 million bets taken in the state in any given , and then 50 cents per wager after that.
May 27, 2025: Illinois lawmakers are facing pressure as proposals to legalize online gambling establishments have stalled before the May 31 adjournment.
May 20, 2025: BetMGM has seen a 157% manage increase on the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl winner futures market considering that Chicago native Robert Prevost was revealed as the new Pope.
May 15, 2025: Illinois bettors wagered 34.7% more sports betting dollars in March 2025 than in the exact same month of the previous year, however win rate listed below 7% stunted earnings development.
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, but those gambling establishments, run by Caesars Entertainment, decline to pay out those winnings, declaring he breached home guidelines and anti-money laundering policies.
April 24, 2025: Illinois sports betting regulators relocate to ban making use of charge card.
April 21, 2025: An operator-friendly Super Bowl LIX outcome in Illinois caused a 53.1% year-over-year February profits increase.
April 2, 2025: Illinois problems cease-and-desists orders to prediction companies Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com, joining a list of growing states to take action against these grey-area books.
March 17, 2025: Illinois legislators are thinking about the legalization of online gaming, also called iGaming, as the state deals with a prospective budget plan deficit and financial uncertainty.
March 17, 2025: Illinois bettors still can't place bets on the two in-state participants in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, thanks to a restriction that forbids all wagers including Prairie State teams.
March 16, 2025: bet365 goes reside in Illinois ahead of March Madness, becoming the tenth online sportsbook 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 betting profits falls almost 18% year-over-year compared to December 2023. However, the state produced 75% more tax income for the totality of 2024 compared to the previous year.
Jan. 15, 2025: Illinois sets a new regular monthly record for sports wagering manage and revenue in November, gathering $137.2 million in revenues 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' profits plummets in October despite earning a record sports wagering handle.
Nov. 18, 2024: Illinois set a new monthly sports betting income high, as the Illinois Gaming Board reported a September manage of $1.31 billion, up 21.3% year-over-year and 50% month-over-month.
Oct. 25, 2024: The NFL requests a ban on prop bets that are "prone to adjustment" in Illinois, such as the very first play of the video game, the very first pass to be incomplete, and a player missing out on a basket.
Oct. 22, 2024: Illinois sports wagering action increases 30% year-over-year in August, leading to almost $60 million in adjusted revenue.
Sept. 17, 2024: The Illinois Gaming Board presents new gaming advertising guidelines that will apply to local casino and video gaming operators for the first time.
Aug. 26, 2024: Acid rock Bet goes reside in Illinois, making it the ninth online operator in the state.
Aug. 12, 2024: Illinois' operators produce an 11% hold despite the state's diminishing sports wagering manage in June.
Aug. 1, 2024: DraftKings is set to present a tax on winning bets in Illinois.
July 9, 2024: Illinois' billion-dollar manage streak grows to nine 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 patch throughout the next NHL season.
June 18, 2024: Illinois' April handle presses past New Jersey for the second-biggest sports betting 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 brand-new progressive sports wagering tax rates into the state's 2025 spending plan and will officially enter into result on July 1, 2024.
May 28, 2024: Analysts say reaction to sports wagering tax walkings is overblown, specifying Illinois is a "state-specific" case.
May 27, 2024: Major sportsbooks would "reassess" their Illinois existence if the state's sports wagering tax hike ends up being law.
May 16, 2024: Illinois' March basketball action increases 23% year-over-year, helping sportsbooks produce almost $1.3 billion in regular monthly handle.
May 3, 2024: Illinois introduces a bill to block Dave & Buster's bets on game games following the company's recent announcement to enable wagering between customers on choose video 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 last week, 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 betting tax walking to combat deficit spending, as raising taxes from 15% to 30% would provide an extra $100 million to the state.