A report released by the Illinois General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability has revealed that gambling revenues collected by the state for the fiscal year hit an all-time high of $1.9 billion.
This was an increase of 35.7% on the previous record which was set back in the 2019 fiscal year.
Lottery
Lottery sales accounted for the lion’s share of state gambling revenues collected from July 2021 to June 2022 as sales pulled in $833 million. This marks a near 6% increase on the previous year’s total. This increases in state revenue came despite a drop in actual sales.
According to the Lottery, the ‘iLottery platform’ accounted for the jump in revenues as almost $279 million in sales came online. This was up by 64% on the previous year.
Speaking of the increase, Keith Horton, general manager of Camelot Illinois, the state’s lottery contractor, said:
“Online lottery play is an integral and growing segment of the Illinois Lottery’s offering. Regular technology updates to the online platform improve the player experience and have helped drive growth over the past few years.”
Video gambling
Video gambling revenue generated $762 million for the state over the year setting yet another fiscal record. This was an increase of 52% on the previous year. However, the report noted that this was due to recent law changes that saw an increase in the state’s share of video gambling revenues.
This revenue jump was also helped by an increase in the number of machines as June 2022 saw 43,128 machines operating across 7,967 establishments. This was up by 7.4% on the previous year.
Casinos
State revenue from casinos in Illinois recovered from pandemic closures as the state collected $140 million. However, this was still some way short of the pre-pandemic levels.
Tom Thanas, executive director of the Illinois Casino Gaming Association said:
“Casinos are getting back to revenue totals they were seeing before the pandemic, and that’s at a time when there are multiple new gaming outlets available to casino patrons. I think there was pent-up demand and people wanted to get out and socialize.”
Sports betting & horse racing
Sports betting in Illinois saw the state collect $142 million during the reporting period. This was more than double the previous year’s figure.
Meanwhile, horse racing generated $7 million last year for state. However, due to the closure of Arlington International Racecourse, this is expected to drop in the next reporting period.
Other gambling activities such as bingo, raffles, and pull tabs generated the remaining $4 million for the state.
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.