SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) — Illinois continues to be one of the top sports betting states in the country.  

The Illinois Gaming Board reports that Illinois sportsbooks set a record for handle in January and topped $1 billion for the fourth straight month. Illinois is just the fourth state to post four consecutive months of billion-dollar handle. The others are New York, New Jersey and Nevada.

Dave Briggs, analyst with PlayIllinois.com, said the NFL playoffs were behind January’s big haul. 

“Really driven by NFL football which means we are predicting that February will be another record because you’ve got the Super Bowl numbers in there and then after that you get into March Madness, so there should be a couple of good months where we maybe set records,” Briggs told The Center Square. 

Briggs adds that in March of last year, legislation allowed Illinois residents to sign-up online for sportsbooks rather than in-person at a casino. He said that explains why sports betting handle in January 2023 was up 23% over January 2022. 

Illinois passed Pennsylvania for third place in lifetime sports betting handle with over $19 billion bet on sports.

In January, Illinois sportsbooks produced total tax revenue of $15.4 million. Last year, sports betting in Illinois produced total tax revenue of nearly $128 million. 

Lifetime, the 27 states that allow legal sports betting have produced a combined handle of over $200 billion through January 2023. Revenue is almost $15.7 billion and total tax revenue has totaled nearly $2.7 billion. 

By KEVIN BESSLER for the Illinois Radio Network