Chris Boline
Life sure is good for everyone who’s able to take advantage of legal Illinois sports betting right now. Well, maybe not for the folks who end up losing money, but you know what we mean. That’s because with it being legal, folks have jumped at the opportunity to bet this fall. Matter of fact, Illinois reported a nearly historic sports betting month for September. It was the second-highest month ever? You got that right.
Per local reports, Illinois announced that they had received more than $596 million in sports bets for September. This is only second to March of 2021. The fact that nearly $600 million in sports bets were made in Illinois is something that really has people talking. These are the kinds of numbers that really back the decision to move forward with the plan in making it legal in the past.
As a whole, the United States reported more than $5 billion in sports bets. Again, these are astronomical numbers. It shouldn’t come as a massive surprise that Illinois did so well for September, since the return of football and the NFL really brightened up things for everyone out there. This has been the case for the USA as a whole, and things are only expected to keep growing in the coming months.
Keep in mind that there’s not a boatload of in-person sportsbooks available for the people to take advantage of. Online wagers are all the rage and they have been for a while. Once more casinos make their way to Illinois, with the governor eyeing a casino and sportsbook in the heart of Chicago, this is only going to add to the popularity of things. This has fans fired up about what’s to come in the state.
Top 10 U.S. states in sports betting handle in Sept. '21 (AZ still to report):
1. New Jersey: $1.01 BILLION
2. Nevada: $786.7 mil
3. Illinois: $596,5 mil
4. PA: $578.8 mil
5. CO: $408.3 mil6. MI: $386.8 mil
7. IN: $355.4 mil
8. VA: $294 mil
9. TN: $257.3 mil
10. Iowa: $210 mil— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) November 9, 2021
Football paved the way for the monster sports betting September in Illinois
As you might have been able to guess, football paved the way for the monster sports betting September in Illinois this year. According to a report, football alone brought in $230 million when it came to the sports bets being made. That sure is a high number, as it accounted for a little less than 40 percent of all the bets that were made in the state in September. How is this possible? Well, the NFL returned, folks.
The National Football League is always going to be massive in Illinois. That’s because there are some serious die-hard Chicago Bears fans out there who love the team with all of their heart. The team is in the middle of an up-and-down season, but folks have been racing to check out the different best NFL betting sites to get their wagers in on the team. The excitement has only gotten stronger since landing Justin Fields.
A first-round pick out of Ohio State, Fields is the quarterback of the future for this team and people can’t wait to see him really start to hit his stride. He’s really shown flashes of brilliance at times for the Bears and head coach Matt Nagy. With that said, Fields isn’t the only reason that people in Illinois have been betting quite frequently on the Chicago Bears. There’s so many factors that come into play.
With Chicago being in the NFC North, anytime they face the Packers, Vikings or Lions, it’s going to have people chomping at the bit to make bets. Also, there are so many different prop bets and futures picks for NFL fans to take advantage of. This is why we’re not stunned whatsoever that $230 million was reported for football bets alone. If anything, that number could get higher with the Super Bowl around the corner.
Always a vibe. 😎
Happy birthday, @marquisegoodwin! pic.twitter.com/zOmxvZVfXF
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) November 19, 2021
Don’t forget about the other sports either here in Illinois
While the NFL may be king across the country, don’t forget about the other sports either here in Illinois. While people can’t bet on amateur sports for the teams inside state lines for college football, such as the University of Illinois and Northwestern, they’re free to do so for the other teams across the country. While Illinois could lift that ban on in-state college betting, it’s still a while away.
“You also gets sports like NBA and college basketball, which may not be as popular to bet on as the NFL and college football but there are so many games and the volume ends up adding to the handle of each state every month including Illinois,” lead analyst for PlayIllinois Joe Boozell said in a recent interview explaining the success on sports betting.
College basketball is another category that will surely see more and more bets coming in, especially with conference tournaments and March Madness coming soon too. Those future bets are really what drives the needle for the sport. Also, Chicago Bulls fans love what they’re seeing from the team this year, which is why so many bets have come in on them too.
The Bulls are looking like serious contenders in the Eastern Conference. DeMar DeRozan, Zach Lavine, Lonzo Ball and others are playing outstanding ball right now. This has people dreaming of a deep run in the NBA postseason. Should the team stay hot, the bets will keep growing too, no doubt about that.
Zo looking like @JustnFields out here 🏈 pic.twitter.com/Oy5c6MBa95
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) November 11, 2021
