Gov. JB Pritzker called to more than double the Illinois sports betting tax rate to 35% as part of his $52.7 billion Fiscal Year 2025 budget presented to the public Wednesday.
Though Pritzker did not reference sports betting at any point during his speech to state legislators, a look at the FY 2025 budget released in conjunction with his address showed a projected tax revenue increase of $200 million at the 35% rate compared to the current 15% from FY2024, which began last July 1. The state’s 15% tax rate does not include a 2% tax Cook County levies on revenue from wagers made within its limits.
| Month | Adjusted Gross Revenue | 15% Tax Rate (Current) | 20% Tax Rate | 25% Tax Rate | 30% Tax Rate | 35% Tax Rate (Proposed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul-23 | $60,411,925 | $9,061,789 | $12,082,385 | $15,102,981 | $18,123,578 | $21,144,174 |
| Aug-23 | $46,939,344 | $7,040,902 | $9,387,869 | $11,734,836 | $14,081,803 | $16,428,770 |
| Sep-23 | $86,222,260 | $12,933,340 | $17,244,452 | $21,555,565 | $25,866,678 | $30,177,791 |
| Oct-23 | $112,740,764 | $16,911,115 | $22,548,153 | $28,185,191 | $33,822,229 | $39,459,267 |
| Nov-23 | $72,704,587 | $10,905,688 | $14,540,917 | $18,176,147 | $21,811,376 | $25,446,605 |
| Dec-23 | $128,430,319 | $19,264,548 | $25,686,064 | $32,107,580 | $38,529,096 | $44,950,612 |
| TOTALS | $507,449,199 | $76,117,382 | $101,489,840 | $126,862,300 | $152,234,760 | $177,607,219 |
| Difference vs. 15% | $0 | $25,372,458 | $50,744,918 | $76,117,378 | $101,489,837 |
If enacted, the higher tax would take effect July 1, the start of the new fiscal year. Pritzker, who legalized sports betting in Illinois in 2019 as part of a massive gaming expansion bill, helped online sports betting take off in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 by repeatedly suspending the in-person registration provision of the Sports Wagering Act via Executive Order.
That helped quickly elevate Illinois into a top-three market nationally behind only New York and New Jersey. Illinois has posted eight monthly handles of $1 billion or more, including each of the final four months of 2023, and operators set a monthly sports betting revenue record with $128.4 million in December. The state collected $150.3 million in taxes from sports betting in 2023, up nearly $32 million from 2022 as the $1 billion in adjusted gross revenue was a 26.1% year-over-year increase.