Canada

PlayIllinois.com: Sports betting nearly reaches $600 million in September

Published

4 years ago

November 9, 2021

Football fueled a surge in betting in September at Illinois sportsbooks, which combined to generate nearly $600 million in wagers. September’s handle was short of the state record of $633.6 million in March, dampened by an in-person online registration rule that will likely be lifted on March 5, according to PlayIllinois, which tracks the state’s regulated online gaming and sports betting market.

“September will set a U.S. record for legal sports betting, and Illinois was able to meet those expectations,” said Joe Boozell, lead analyst for PlayIllinois.com. “But as strong as September’s results were, in-person registration continues to limit Illinois’ ceiling. Assuming the governor signs the bill that will put an end to the rule on March 5, Illinois will begin breaking through this monthly handle plateau in spring.”

Bettors poured $596.5 million in wagers into Illinois retail and online sportsbooks in September, up 95.4% from $305.2 million in September 2020 and up 49% from $400.4 million in August, according to official data released Monday. September’s handle equates to $19.9 million in bets per day, up from $10.2 million per day in September 2020 and up from $12.9 million over the 31 days of August.

Accordingly, gross revenue rose 279.3% to $44.6 million in September from $11.8 million in September 2020 and up 36.3% from $32.7 million in August. That led to $40.0 million in adjusted gross revenue in September, yielding $6.5 million in state and local taxes.

With the first three weekends of the NFL and a full month of college games played in September, football drew $230.6 million in wagers. That is up from just $17.2 million in August. Baseball attracted $115.9 million in bets, down from $139.6 million in August. Tennis ($55.3 million) and soccer ($34.3 million) also generated significant interest.

“The NFL, and to a lesser extent college football, is irreplaceable in its ability to motivate bettors,” Boozell said. “General interest in football helps Illinois’ sportsbooks overcome the struggles of the Chicago Bears, and the ban on betting on in-state college teams. Plus, sportsbooks continued to capitalize on the playoff run by the White Sox in September.”

Only New Jersey ($1.01 billion) and Nevada ($786.7 million) attracted more bets during September than Illinois, which surpassed Pennsylvania’s $578.8 million.

Since launching legal sports betting in 2020, Illinois has generated:

$6.5 billion in wagers, fourth most among all markets during that time
$508.3 million in gross revenue
$78.3 million in state taxes

“With the end to in-person registration in sight, Illinois’ future is awfully bright again,” said Eric Ramsey, analyst for the PlayUSA.com Network, which includes PlayIllinois.com. “It is not difficult to imagine a world where it is again challenging the nation’s largest sports betting markets.”

Online betting accounted for 95.5%, or $569.9 million, of the state’s handle in September. DraftKings/Casino Queen topped the state with $236.5 million in combined online and retail handle, up from $149.2 million in August. That included an Illinois-best $232.1 million in online wagers. The operator took in $8.0 million in gross revenue on September’s bets, up from $11.3 million in August.

FanDuel was again second with $156.2 million in online and retail wagers, up from $111.5 million in bets in August. $155.0 million of August’s wagers came online. FanDuel’s combined handle created $18.0 million in gross revenue.

The leaders were followed by:

BetRivers/Rivers Casino ($98.5 million in wagers, including $87.3 million online; $9.3 million in revenue)
Barstool/Hollywood Aurora ($46.5 million in wagers, including $45.3 million online; $4.2 million in revenue)
PointsBet/Hawthorne Race Course ($43.9 million in wagers, including $41.9 million online; $3.6 million in revenue)
Caesars by William Hill/Grand Victoria ($9.4 million in wagers, including $8.2 million online; $595,393 in revenue)
Argosy ($3.3 million in retail wagers; $412,858 in revenue)
Hollywood Joliet ($1.3 million in retail wagers; $257,992 in revenue)
Par-A-Dice ($629,829 in wagers; $159,804 in revenue)

“DraftKings and FanDuel have been the main beneficiaries of Illinois’ relatively small roster of operators, which is still absent some of the nation’s largest operators, including No. 3 BetMGM,” Ramsey said. “Ideally, with the latest changes there will be renewed interest in Illinois from operators.

Canada

IGSA Welcomes New Partner Members: Focal Research and RGC Canada

Published

3 days ago

April 9, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

igsa-welcomes-new-partner-members:-focal-research-and-rgc-canada

As part of a new responsible gaming initiative, the International Gaming Standards Association (IGSA) has welcomed two new Partner Members, Focal Research Consultants and The Responsible Gambling Council, both from Canada.

IGSA President Mark Pace said: “IGSA is excited to welcome our new partners in Responsible Gaming. We are looking to work with organizations that are truly dedicated to doing good in the RG space. There is a lot of time, energy and money being spent in this area and we want to leverage the incredible work being done in an effort to amplify its positive effect.”

Tracy Schrans, Co-Founder and President of Focal Research, said: “We are pleased to partner with IGSA on this important initiative. Drawing on over three decades of applied research, responsible gambling evaluation, and player protection, we look forward to collaborating with IGSA members to advance practical evidence-based industry standards for keeping players safe.”

“Advancing industry standards for player protection depends on collaboration across the full ecosystem. With deep expertise in standards development, applied research, and harm prevention, RGC is pleased to work alongside IGSA members to develop practical, implementable standards that strengthen player protection in meaningful ways,” said Sarah McCarthy, CEO of the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC).

The post IGSA Welcomes New Partner Members: Focal Research and RGC Canada appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Boris Gartner

LALIGA Announces Multi-year Partnership with Polymarket

Published

3 days ago

April 9, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

laliga-announces-multi-year-partnership-with-polymarket

LALIGA North America has announced a multi-year partnership with Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market, becoming the first European soccer league to do so.

As the Official and Exclusive Prediction Market Partner of LALIGA in the US and Canada, Polymarket will offer LALIGA fans the ability to engage with Spain’s premier soccer league and its stars at an unprecedented level.

“Soccer’s growth, especially in North America, is spearheaded by young, diverse and multicultural audiences who consume the game across multiple screens, so it’s our goal to continue to engage these demographics in new and unique ways. It’s imperative we go beyond traditional engagement efforts in order to bring these audiences closer to the beautiful game than ever before, and we couldn’t think of a better partner than Polymarket to achieve that,” said Boris Gartner, Relevent CEO & Partner.

For LALIGA North America, the partnership with Polymarket is a testament to the long-term investment and growth in the region as a result of the 20-year joint venture between LALIGA and Relevent launched in 2018. Polymarket joins a robust roster of regional partners including Walmart, Lowe’s, McDonald’s, Verizon, Remitly, and Panini, among others.

The multi-year partnership with Polymarket includes premium broadcast visibility, fan-focused digital and social programming, and exclusive fan experiences such as VIP match hospitality and virtual meet-and-greets with LALIGA legends. Polymarket will also receive exclusive rights to use LALIGA and club intellectual property in connection with LALIGA matches.

Through this partnership, LALIGA and Polymarket will collaborate to establish a responsible and transparent framework that promotes innovative fan participation while upholding the highest standards of sporting integrity, leveraging Polymarket’s recently announced next-generation sports integrity platform launched in partnership with Palantir Technologies and TWG AI.

“Our goal is to give fans a more expressive way to follow the game, where opinions on players, matches, and season outcomes can be reflected in real time. Partnering with LALIGA brings that level of interaction to one of the most passionate global fanbases and introduces a new, more dynamic way for North American audiences to engage with the league,” said Shayne Coplan, Founder and CEO of Polymarket.

Polymarket has rapidly established itself as the prediction market partner of choice for major sports leagues, having announced partnerships with MLB, NHL, UFC, and MLS, which includes serving as the exclusive and official prediction market for MLS Cup, MLS All-Star, and Leagues Cup.

The post LALIGA Announces Multi-year Partnership with Polymarket appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Bede Gaming

OLG Launches Innovative New React Native Mobile App with Bede Gaming

Published

5 days ago

April 7, 2026

Wladimir P.

olg-launches-innovative-new-react-native-mobile-app-with-bede-gaming

Bede Gaming is proud to continue its partnership with Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation (OLG), which is now delivering an enhanced experience to its OLG.ca mobile customers across the province after successfully transitioning to the Bede Gaming React Native App.

The upgraded app, built for fast and seamless omnichannel performance, provides an exceptional player experience that leverages a data-efficient design model.

With over 1 million monthly app users, the lightweight network delivery and core functionality of Bede’s technical solution ensures an accessible and high-quality player experience across devices, even during peak traffic periods.

Structured with a flexible foundation for future development, ongoing app enhancements will now be delivered quickly and consistently across device types. In addition, the new app uses one build for all devices, making it much more operationally efficient and cost effective, and far easier for the Ontario operator to implement and manage future changes.

The new agile solution is also highly scalable and customisable, offering the flexibility to build a bespoke mobile set-up that’s truly brand-tailored and easily self-managed by operator admins. With direct connection into Bede’s full platform capabilities, engaging in-house product suite, and catalogue of third-party integrations, the new app eliminates the need for additional integration steps, significantly improves speed to market, and enables a fast response to changing player behaviours and trends.

Given online gambling is regulated on a province-to-province basis in Canada, the new app will also help OLG continue to provide a responsible and compliant iGaming service through geolocation technology powered by mkodo’s GeoLocs product, leveraging robust location management tools to ensure a seamless and fully regulated experience for players across Ontario.

Following the transition to Bede’s React Native App, OLG has reported a smooth and successful launch, with a carefully planned rollout and no impact to the customer experience.

Dave Pridmore, Chief Gaming Officer at OLG, said: “We’re delighted with how quickly and efficiently the transition to Bede’s React Native app has been – and the fact there’s been no disruption for our existing OLG.ca players speaks volumes about the impressive teamwork shown on both sides. The intuitive experience built and well-considered support are representative of the high quality of work we’ve come to expect from our partners at Bede Gaming.

“As OLG continues to prioritise our players’ experiences and expectations, we look forward to implementing even more market-leading enhancements throughout our ongoing digital growth.”

Further phases of strategic enhancements applied to the app’s user journey will deliver continual user improvements, supporting a more streamlined customer experience that encourages returning traffic.

With increasing demand across the industry for seamless omnichannel gaming experiences, having this degree of personalisation, accessibility and smooth user journeys offers an increasingly significant role in player retention.

“The successful roll-out of our React Native App is testament to Bede’s continued commitment to our partnership with OLG and further proof of the passion we have for providing operational efficiencies to their team,” said Andrew Humphreys, Chief Product Engineering Officer at Bede Gaming. “I’m excited about the additional competitive value that our Bede App will be able to offer; our flexible and cost-efficient solution will empower OLG to expand their outreach and capabilities in the mobile-first market.”

The post OLG Launches Innovative New React Native Mobile App with Bede Gaming appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.