SBA Rips Illinois Tax Hike, Calls It Catalyst for Black Market Betting
Posted on: August 28, 2025, 12:17h.
Last updated on: August 28, 2025, 12:37h.
- Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) chides Illinois over latest sports betting tax hike
- Says it will chase smaller bettors to unregulated bookmakers
The Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), a trade group representing US sportsbook operators, lambasted Illinois over its recent sports wagering tax increase, saying the new per-bet levy on gaming companies will drive smaller bettors to unregulated markets.
The SBA’s Illinois chapter issued a statement Thursday in which it ripped the state for charging operators 25 cents per bet on the first 20 million bets booked, with that figure doubling to 50 cents for every bet after 20 million – a move the organization believes will adversely affect smaller bettors.
Data shows the state’s new per-wager tax will have the most impact on recreational bettors in Illinois who place small-dollar wagers, with more than half of bets placed in Illinois at $5 or less,” said the SBA of Illinois in the press release. “The tax will drive more Illinois residents to the illegal and predatory sports betting market that is rapidly expanding nationwide – and a growing concern of the state’s top consumer advocates: the Illinois Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau.”
On a national level, SBA’s members are Bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel.
SBA Fires Football Season Warning Shot in Illinois
With the 2025 football season commencing in earnest tonight, the Illinois tax environment is amplified because football is the most wagered-on sport in the US.
Sportsbook operators in the state responded to the recent tax increase, the state’s second in a year, by either assessing per-bet fees or implementing minimum bet sizes. Either way, that could chase bettors to the black markets, says the Illinois SBA.
A growing number of companies begin to pass the Illinois per-wager sports betting tax onto customers, the risks of the flourishing illegal online gaming market will rise,” says the organization.
Earlier this week, Caesars Sportsbook joined DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel in assessing per-bet fees in Illinois. BetMGM, Circa Sports, ESPN Bet, Hard Rock Bet, and Rush Street Interactive are among the operators requiring minimum though small bet sizes in the state.
SBA Has Endured Criticism, Too
In sports betting circles, operators implementing transaction fees have been criticized, as has the SBA, on the basis that the organization probably should have seen the latest Illinois tax increase coming because the state moved to a progressive sports wagering tax scheme last year.
Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed off on more than 50 tax increases since taking office in January 2019, so the state’s efforts to extract more money from the gaming industry aren’t surprising. It still doesn’t sit well with the SBA.
“Coupled with Illinois’ 2024 graduated tax, the state’s per-wager tax is making the taxes paid by legal sports betting customers the highest in the country,” according to the statement. “Unregulated, offshore operators offer cheaper sports betting alternatives for consumers, without any consumer protections — including age verification — and without any oversight.”
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