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PlayIllinois.com: Sports betting drops, but Illinois still claims nation’s No. 2 market in April

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Illinois became the nation’s No. 2 market despite suffering the steepest month-over-month decline in sports betting volume in the young market’s history, joining New Jersey as the only states with an April handle of more than $500 million. The decline in wagering was in line with a typical seasonal slowdown in sports betting that affected nearly every U.S. market, and less than expected with the return of in-person registration on April 4, according to analysts from PlayIllinois, which tracks the state’s regulated online gaming and sports betting market.

“Without the NFL or a major sports betting holiday like March Madness a decline in April was a near certainty,” said Joe Boozell, analyst for PlayIllinois.com. “The Illinois market faced a double-whammy with the return of in-person registration, which will eventually eat away at the market’s ceiling even if it hasn’t dramatically impacted handle yet. And there is no easy solution to that without a legislative fix.”

Betting at Illinois’ retail and online sportsbooks fell 15.2% to $537.2 million in April from the record $633.6 million in March, according to official data released Wednesday. Betting volume in April dropped to $17.3 million per day over the 31 days of the month from $20.4 million per day in March.

April’s handle created $43.6 million in adjusted gross revenue, down from $44.3 million in March, yielding $6.5 million in state taxes and more than $527,100 in local taxes. The state has now produced $4.1 billion in wagering since sports betting launched in 2020.

All but one U.S. legal sports betting jurisdiction reported a month-over-month decline in April wagering, including the 10 largest markets. Illinois’s decline was more than New Jersey (-13%), Tennessee (-13.6%), and Pennsylvania (-14.4%), but shallower than Colorado (-18.8%), Virginia (-22.1%), Indiana (-25.4%), Iowa (-26.7%), Nevada (-29.1%), and Michigan (-30.5%).

Despite the decline in April only New Jersey took in more wagers, making Illinois the No. 2 market in the U.S. Nearly all of those declines can be explained by the expected seasonal drop in sports betting, which typically begins in April and continues until the football season. Illinois’ handle, though, also faced the return of in-person registration requirements, and the impact came swiftly.

“Illinois is proving to be remarkably resilient as a market, overcoming the inconvenience of in-person registration at least temporarily,” said Jessica Welman, analyst for the PlayUSA.com network, which includes PlayIllinois.com. “A concerted push before in-person registration went into place likely helped lessen the short-term effects, but it will be difficult for Illinois to keep pace with the nation’s top markets over the long term.”

The NBA easily generated the most action in April with $171.4 million, which was down from $365.7 million. Baseball was the second-most wagered-on sport, generating $121.2 million in bets.

Online wagering accounted for 95.5%, or $513.2 million, of all bets in April.

With the partial removal of the ban on wagering on in-state college teams — allowing retail sportsbooks to take bets on Northwestern, Illinois, Northern Illinois, and others — the state legislature did give retail books something to look forward to when college football returns. But the ban will remain for online sportsbooks, which will mute the importance of the change.

“The change is a positive one, but it won’t make a significant difference in the short-term,” Boozell said. “Illinoisans overwhelmingly place their bets online. So, any change that only affects retail betting will be limited in its impact. Hopefully this will be an incremental step toward lifting the ban entirely.”

FanDuel/Fairmont’s online and retail sportsbooks attracted $177.8 million in bets, the first time FanDuel has topped the market. DraftKings/Casino Queen was second with $169.6 million in combined handle. BetRivers/Rivers Casino fell to $84.3 million in combined handle. Barstool/Hollywood Casinos was fourth with $51.4 million, in its first full month of online operation.

“FanDuel catching DraftKings is a seismic shift in the dynamics of the market, and a credit to FanDuel’s campaign to register bettors ahead of in-person registration,” Welman said. “Barstool’s push to register customers before in-person registration took effect made a difference, too. But it will be difficult to make significant inroads on the market leaders, which all had months of being able to register customers unencumbered.”

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TitanPlay Highlights Responsible Gambling Approach in Platform Design

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TitanPlay, a regulated iGaming operator in Ontario’s licensed market, announced its commitment to treating responsible gambling not as a compliance checkbox, but as a foundational principle embedded across all aspects of product design, marketing, and operations.

While Ontario’s regulatory framework — established by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) and iGaming Ontario (iGO) — sets clear minimum standards for licensed operators, TitanPlay says it views those standards as a starting point for its broader responsible gambling framework.

“For us, responsible gambling is not an afterthought, but the foundation on which TitanPlay is built,” said the Chief Compliance Officer of TitanPlay.

Designing for Player Well-Being from Day One

TitanPlay evaluates every product feature through a player-protection lens at the development stage. The platform offers clear, accessible limit-setting tools for deposits, losses, and time — available at registration and adjustable within prescribed cooling-off periods. Players also benefit from prominent real-time displays of account activity, friction-based interventions such as time reminders and proactive check-ins when play patterns shift, and seamless access to self-exclusion options.

Data-Driven Safeguards

Rather than using behavioral analytics to maximize short-term spending, TitanPlay deploys data to identify potential indicators of risk. When patterns suggest a player may be experiencing harm, trained Responsible Gambling specialists engage proactively in a personalized and supportive way, connecting players with available tools and independent resources such as ConnexOntario. All customer-facing teams undergo ongoing training aligned with AGCO standards.

Marketing with Integrity

TitanPlay applies rigorous internal review processes to all advertising and promotional campaigns, going beyond Ontario’s standards prohibiting targeting of minors, misleading claims, and public advertising of inducements or bonuses. The company prioritizes transparency, age-gating, and responsible messaging to ensure entertainment is never misrepresented as a financial solution.

A Shared Responsibility Across the Organization

Responsible gambling at TitanPlay is owned across product, marketing, compliance, and leadership — influencing roadmap decisions, user interface design, customer communications, and executive strategy.

The post TitanPlay Highlights Responsible Gambling Approach in Platform Design appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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Alberta market

Soft2Bet Evaluates Alberta Market Entry to Strengthen its Canadian Footprint

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Soft2Bet, a leading iGaming turnkey solutions provider, announced its intention to pursue entry into the Alberta market, pending regulatory approval. This strategic focus leverages Soft2Bet’s operational experience with localized offerings, including its Ontario-facing brand, ToonieBet.

Strategic Market Potential & Compliance

Alberta (Canada) represents one of the most significant growth opportunities in the North American iGaming landscape. With Canada’s youngest adult population and the highest GDPs per capita in the country, the province is well poised for a successful transition to an open, competitive market. Industry projections by Citizens JMP Securities suggest that Alberta’s regulated iGaming market could exceed $700 million in annual revenue at maturity.

Soft2Bet is closely monitoring the development of Alberta’s regulatory framework under the iGaming Alberta Act, which establishes the Alberta iGaming Corporation (AiGC) as the oversight body alongside the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) as the regulator. Reflecting its commitment to the highest standards of integrity, Soft2Bet is preparing for the province’s specific technical requirements.

The planned entry into Alberta aligns with the company’s strategic plans for 2026 to drive sustainable growth, and enter several new regulated territories.

“Innovation is paramount at Soft2Bet, and our goal is to develop exciting products that meet our customers where they are most comfortable. As we evaluate our entry into Alberta, pending regulatory approval, we are committed to delivering localized, engaging experiences that reflect the unique preferences and culture of each market,” said David Yatom Hay, General Counsel, Soft2Bet.

Excellence in Canadian Localization

Soft2Bet aims to leverage its experience in Ontario to enhance the gaming experience for users in Alberta, Canada, with innovative, compliant products. A core component of the company’s regional strategy involves taking localization further by adapting its brands to local culture, regulatory standards, and player preferences.

To support its hyper-local focus, Soft2Bet targets comprehensive native-language support across its priority regions, ensuring its services are deeply integrated into the local culture of each active regulated market.

The post Soft2Bet Evaluates Alberta Market Entry to Strengthen its Canadian Footprint appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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23 Broadway

23 Broadway secures $3m seed funding to launch AI-powered user acquisition financing platform

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23 Broadway has secured $3 million in Seed funding to accelerate the next phase of its growth and launch a fully integrated AI-powered user acquisition financing platform.

The funding round was co-led by Betty and Will Ventures, with participation from 359 Capital, CEAS Investments, and Dave Bartman.

23 Broadway was integral in catapulting Betty to an 18% market share in Ontario through its world-class performance marketing team and proprietary AI system called Atlas.

Atlas determines the optimal cost of acquiring a customer and their predicted long-term value.
With this new funding, 23 Broadway will add non-dilutive capital to fund user acquisition to run alongside its existing performance marketing and technology capabilities into a single integrated solution.

Jordan Tuch, CEO of 23 Broadway, said: “23 Broadway is reimagining user acquisition financing by not only providing capital but deploying it through proprietary technology and performance marketing expertise. We’ve created a model that empowers businesses to scale faster without needing to build complex technology or marketing infrastructure themselves. The ability to use AI and execute bids based on a customer’s predicted lifetime value means we can deploy capital far more efficiently. That combination of predictive intelligence and funding creates a powerful growth engine for our partners.”

The underlying thesis is that platforms combining  in-house technology and performance marketing expertise can offer a truly differentiated and durable user acquisition financing solution.

Growth-stage businesses benefit from access to dedicated capital for customer acquisition without equity dilution, while also being able to implement advanced marketing execution across platforms such as Google Ads and other major advertising ecosystems.

Funding will be allocated to develop Atlas further and enhance 23 Broadway’s predictive modelling capabilities. Another focus will be building new AI-driven models to help gaming companies strengthen retention marketing strategies. A final part will be to onboard additional partners seeking scalable user acquisition financing solutions.

The post 23 Broadway secures $3m seed funding to launch AI-powered user acquisition financing platform appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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