Two more sportsbooks have raised their minimum bets in Illinois following the introduction of a new tax on all sports wagers placed in the state.
ESPN Bet has boosted its minimum bet requirement from 10 cents to $1, in line with other popular sports betting sites in the state, BetMGM, Hard Rock Bet and BetRivers.
Circa Sports, the low-hold, high-volume operator, has hiked its minimum bet required up to $10.
Other sports betting apps such as DraftKings and FanDuel have so far decided against a minimum fee but instead are asking users to pay a fee of $0.25 and $0.50 per bet.
Last month Fanatics added tax on its Illinois bets following the similar move by DraftKings and FanDuel.
What Is The New Tax Law In Illinois?
Lawmakers in Illinois passed House Bill 1928 which is implementing a two-stage tax levy on all sports bets placed in the state from July 1.
The new Illinois tax is $0.25 per wager for the first 20 million bets accepted by a sportsbook in the state
The tax will then rise $0.50 per wager for anything accepted after the 20-million mark has been passed.
It is estimated that this new budget move by Illinois could earn the state around $36 million in tax income annually.
Circa Sports founder and CEO Derek Stevens posted his reaction and an explanatory video on his X (formerly twitter) social media account.
After thoughtful consideration, we believe the best course of action for a low-hold, high-volume sportsbook such as @CircaSports is to raise the minimum wager in Illinois. We are reluctant to compromise our best-in-class betting splits or charge our customers a per-bet fee.… pic.twitter.com/hrg5xPHufq
— Derek Stevens (@DerekJStevens) August 15, 2025
He wrote: “After thoughtful consideration, we believe the best course of action for a low-hold, high-volume sportsbook such as @CircaSports is to raise the minimum wager in Illinois.
“We are reluctant to compromise our best-in-class betting splits or charge our customers a per-bet fee.
“Beginning Monday, September 1, a $10 minimum wager will take effect, protecting the vast majority of bettors in Illinois.
“No one should have to pay a fee to make a wager.”
Sportsbooks May Review Their Actions
The parent group of BetRivers is Rush Street Interactive, and chief financial officer Kyle Sauers revealed it would be keeping a watchful eye on how the market place reacts to the minimum bet limit.
“What we have done to date is we’ve moved the minimum bet up to $1.
“That’s the move thus far, but we’re remaining flexible to figure out the right way to approach it as we get towards NFL season.”
There is further uncertainty about the new Illinois tax laws as a betting surcharge may be subject to additional taxes.
The Illinois Gaming Board’s press release indicated that companies should declare “additional revenue received in relation to the conduct of sports wagering.
“This includes, but is not limited to: Per-wager fees not already reflected in the handle fields.”
DraftKings is one of the firms who are asking users for a fee, rather than increasing the minimum bet.
CEO Jason Robins commented in the firm’s Q2 2025 call that: “Our position is this was a pass-through and it shouldn’t be taxed.
“I think Illinois has taken a little bit of a different view on it, so we’re going to try to obviously resolve that before we implement the charge.”
Jim Munro is a betting industry and gambling expert who has been a national newspaper journalist for over 30 years, predominantly at The Sunday Times and The Sun, where he wrote a weekly soccer betting column. Jim also worked on the launch of Virgin Bet with Gamesys and was subsequently head of editorial at LiveScore, the sports media and betting group.
