The best sports betting sites in Illinois 2024

Caesars

Caesars’ acquisition of William Hill for $4billion in 2021 gave this massive casino brand an entry to the elite of American online sportsbooks. With Hills’ extensive sportsbook expertise complemented by the high profile of the Caesars name, it has quickly established itself as one of the best options for sports betting in Illinois and beyond.

The welcome bonus is eye-catchingly generous, as it comes in the form of a deposit match of up to $1,500. This is backed up by an outstanding user experience, a host of ongoing promotions and a commitment to delivering markets on a broad range of sports and events.

Its retail partner is Chicago’s Grand Victoria Casino, and the rewards program offers you the chance to earn points that can be used both for sports betting purposes and in a bricks-and-mortar casino. Caesars is a force to be reckoned with in the Illinois sports betting arena.

PointsBet

PointsBet has performed extremely well since entering the US sports betting market. It has been helped by the general excellence of its online offering, and by the unique system of PointsBetting that it makes available to clients.

PointsBetting enables you to take a greater risk and, in turn, win bigger depending on the margin by which your selection wins. The flipside is that you can lose bigger too – though you can put limits in place.

Its casino partner is the Hawthorn racetrack, and customers who sign up can take advantage of a promotion offering two bonus bets with a total value of up to $2,000.

This is a sportsbook with Australian roots that has brought an assertive, challenging approach to the business of online sports betting in Illinois and elsewhere. It fully deserves its place among the ranks of leading American sports wagering firms.

DraftKings

The DraftKings sportsbook website and app is now live in numerous states and is extremely highly regarded by players who enjoy sports betting. Its casino partner in Illinois is DraftKings at Casino Queen.

Its exploits as a provider of Daily Fantasy Sports gave DraftKings a high profile, which it has leveraged since sports betting was legalized in a succession of states.

However, it has backed up that initial edge with a genuinely superb online offering. New customers qualify for a welcome bonus that includes $200 in Bonus Bets when you bet $5.

Its Illinois sports betting app is highly rated. In fact, the company offers a single app that can be rolled out in any territory where it acquires a licence – and allows access to an impressive spread of sports and markets.

FanDuel

No list of the leading sportsbooks in any state where sports betting has been legalized would be complete without the name of FanDuel. This is a brand that made its name as a leading provider of Daily Fantasy Sports games, then pivoted smartly to add a quality sportsbook capability to its offering.

Appropriately for an organization that operated on a mobile-first basis in DFS, the FanDuel app has earned rave reviews from customers across the USA. Its simple, clear design, backed up by top-line navigation and the ability to place wagers quickly and easily, makes it a leading Illinois sports betting app.

Its casino partner is FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, formerly known as Fairmount Park. FanDuel also scores highly for the breadth of sports on offer and the frequency with which it delivers odds boosts and promotions. Its sign-up offer is a $100 bonus bet when you register, followed by a second bonus bet of up to $1,000.

BetMGM

BetMGM is a fully licensed online sportsbook that made its debut in Illinois in March 2022 through a partnership with Par-A-Dice Casino in Peoria. BetMGM delivers competitive odds across dozens of sports and thousands of betting markets, offering bettors access to features like early cashouts and live streaming.

The Lion Boost feature at BetMGM gives Illinois bettors higher odds on props bets, and is available on the biggest sporting events daily. Players registering with BetMGM Illinois can claim its $1,000 welcome bonus. If you first wager up to this amount loses, the sportsbook will refund your stake with extra bets.

Along with its generous welcome bonus, BetMGM offers the MGM Rewards program, where you can earn points for betting to use to claim bonuses. You can access the MGM Rewards program through its slick desktop site or top-quality app.

Barstool

The Barstool sportsbook takes a bold, assertive approach to the business of sports betting, as befits the tone set by the publications of its parent company Barstool Sports.

It went live in Illinois thanks to its partnership with Penn National Gaming, which owns three casinos in the state. Penn National’s gambling expertise has also helped the sportsbook in refining the way it engages with customers.

This is a high quality sportsbook with some outstanding features. New players are welcomed with a $10 no-deposit bonus and the chance of a new player bonus worth up to $1,000.

The main strength of Barstool is its array of unique promotions and offers. They include the chance to win rewards for tailing a Barstool Sports personality’s selections and the opportunity to scoop a huge prize through an overs tournament on big football action. 

BetRivers

When it comes to sports betting in Illinois, BetRivers is on home turf. Its parent company, Rush Street Interactive, has its headquarters in Chicago, and BetRivers is the exclusive online gambling partner of the Chicago Bears.

Its casino partner is, not surprisingly, the Rivers Casino – the brand made its name as a casino operator. The sportsbook it has created in double-quick time has won plenty of friends and is now live in several states. It was one of the first four online sportsbooks to go live in New York at the start of 2022.

Chicagoans who sign up for an account will find a strong focus on local sports, as well as an excellent welcome offer that doubles your deposit up to a maximum of $250 and has a minimal playthrough requirement. Not surprisingly, it enjoys one of the biggest handles from Illinois sports betting customers, outstripped only by FanDuel and DraftKings.

Baseball

When it comes to baseball, most of the attention centers on the two famous Chicago teams and their long-standing rivalry. The Cubs and the White Sox have been vying for support in the Windy City since the beginning of the 20th century and now face off regularly in what is known as the Crosstown Classic.

Each team ended a wait of several decades for a third World Series triumph in the early years of this century, which has added extra edge to their feud. Baseball is a popular sport anyway with those who enjoy sports betting in Illinois, but this rivalry ensures even greater interest.

Football

Football is a clear leader in the league table of most popular sports among American bettors. And the people of Illinois have, in the Chicago Bears, one of the most historic names in the NFL.

The Bears won eight NFL championships in their early decades, but have only one Super Bowl to their name, which was won as long ago as 1985.

Nevertheless, the Bears still draw heavy support from their home city and beyond, and the general popularity of football wagering means there will always be serious interest when it comes to Illinois sports betting on the NFL.

Basketball

When it comes to basketball, there is only one show in town. The Chicago Bulls, inspired by Michael Jordan, won six NBA Finals in the 1990s to give them a global profile that persists to this day.

The Bulls have rarely threatened to hit those heights in recent years but they still command great support in the Windy City. Basketball is also a highly popular sport from a wagering perspective, which ensures there will always be a high level of investment in the best NBA action among fans of sports betting in Illinois.

Hockey

Ever since they were founded in 1926 as one of the Original Six NHL teams, the Chicago Blackhawks have enjoyed massive support in their home city.

Their fans have been treated to six Stanley Cup victories, three of them since 2009, which has kept interest in hockey high in the Windy City to this day.

Hockey is a sport that generates considerable interest from a betting perspective and fans across Illinois and beyond enjoy wagering on the NHL, as well as the best leagues in Europe.

Soccer

Soccer has grown in popularity across the USA in recent decades following the establishment of the MLS. The leading team in Illinois is the Chicago Fire, who won both the MLS Cup and the US Open Cup in their first season in 1998 and have won the latter three times since.

From a betting perspective, the global popularity of soccer ensures that there will always be serious interest in wagering on the sport. As well as the best MLS action, fans enjoy getting involved in games from some of the biggest competitions across the world, including La Liga in Spain and the English Premier League.

Golf

Illinois has hosted several Major championships, notably at Medinah, Olympia Fields and Kemper Lakes. Tiger Woods twice won the PGA Championship at Medinah, which was also the venue for one of the most memorable Ryder Cups in recent years, when Europe pulled off a shock victory in 2012.

Golf is a sport that lends itself to high levels of wagering. Tournaments are played over four days, they feature large fields, and there is a wide range of ways – such as over/unders and two-ball match-ups – in which sports bettors can get involved in every event.

NASCAR

NASCAR is the most popular motorsport series in the USA. Illinois sports betting companies offer a generous array of markets on the events that take place in several series throughout the year.

Illinois fans can get a taste of NASCAR action close up at two tracks in the state – the Chicagoland Speedway and the World Wide Technology Raceway. NASCAR attracts vast crowds to watch the high-speed, high-octane races, and many aficionados enjoy pitting their expertise against the odds makers when it’s time for the cars to roar away from the start line.

Horse racing

Horse racing has always been treated as a separate entity from other sports when it comes to betting. There are numerous venues where you can place wagers on racing in Illinois, as well as several dedicated sites offering online betting facilities.

Local fans of the sport who want to see the action up close can still attend meetings at the tracks at Fairmount Park and Hawthorne. Sadly, the track at Arlington, which hosted the prestigious Arlington Million, has been sold for redevelopment and the last races took place there in 2021. 

NCAA football

College football attracts serious interest across Illinois. The Prairie State is home to two teams who play in the prestigious Big Ten conference, the Illinois Fighting Illini from the University of Illinois and Northwestern University’s Wildcats. Several other colleges have teams in Division I of the NCAA.

Placing a bet on college football has historically been restricted to pre-game wagers struck in person. However, that stipulation was lifted on March 5 2022 and it will be fascinating to see what this relaxation does to the levels of NCAA football sports betting in Illinois.

NCAA basketball

No fewer than 13 colleges field men’s and women’s teams play in Division I of NCAA basketball, including the Illini and the Wildcats in the Big Ten.  

The previous restriction on betting on college sports obviously affected the level of wagering on NCAA basketball in the state. Given the popularity of basketball in general, and the number of outstanding programs in the state, it is to be hoped that the lifting of the in-person restriction will have a galvanizing effect on levels of wagering on the sport.