Best Online Sportsbook Illinois: Ten Apps, Three Layers of Tax

Best online sportsbook Illinois used to be a simple odds-and-bonus comparison among ten legal apps. In 2026 it's also a question about who absorbs the tax. Illinois stacked a graduated revenue tax, a first-in-the-nation per-wager fee, and — in Chicago specifically — a new city surcharge, all within about two years of each other, and the two biggest operators responded in genuinely different ways.

Illinois Has Been Legal Since 2019 — That Part Isn't in Question

Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 690 on June 28, 2019, legalizing sports betting statewide as part of a larger gaming expansion bill. Retail sportsbooks at casinos and stadiums opened first, in March 2020, with online wagering following that June. The Illinois Gaming Board licenses and regulates every operator, and the early market required an in-person visit to a licensed venue before a bettor could register for a mobile account — a requirement lawmakers waived on and off during the pandemic before sunsetting it for good on March 5, 2022. The first full month without it produced a record $971.3 million in statewide handle, and by 2023 Illinois was running over $1 billion a month, trailing only New York.

Is Illinois Sports Betting Safe? The Tax Stack, Not the License, Is the Story

Licensing isn't where Illinois gets complicated — the state has a working, well-tested Gaming Board framework. The complication is cost. In 2024, the legislature replaced a flat 15% tax on operator revenue with a graduated scale: 20% on the first $30 million in adjusted gross revenue, rising through 25%, 30%, 35%, and topping out at 40% above $200 million. FanDuel and DraftKings, as the two highest-earning operators, are presently the only books large enough to hit that top bracket. Then came the FY2026 state budget, which added a per-wager tax on top of the revenue tax — a first for any US state — charging operators 25 cents for each of their first 20 million annual wagers and 50 cents for every wager after that.

How DraftKings and FanDuel Handled the Per-Wager Tax Differently

FanDuel passed its share straight through. Starting in mid-2025 it began charging Illinois bettors a 50-cent surcharge on wagers, confirmed in company statements reported that June, though it has periodically suspended the fee during promotional stretches since — it isn't a fixed, permanent 50 cents on every slip in every month. DraftKings took a more selective route: by September 2025 it told reporters it would skip the surcharge on parlays of $10 or more, single-event wagers of $50 or more, bonus bet redemptions, and for any player at Silver tier or higher in its loyalty program. Functionally, a casual $5 straight bettor on FanDuel pays the fee more often than the same bettor on DraftKings, while a high-volume bettor on either app can often structure around it.

Chicago's Own Tax Is Now in Court

Illinois's tax stack has a fourth layer that only applies inside city limits. Chicago's city budget added a 10.25% local tax on sports betting, which took effect in January 2026 after Mayor Brandon Johnson neither signed nor vetoed the budget before the deadline passed. The Sports Betting Alliance — an industry group representing Bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel — filed suit in Cook County court, arguing that Chicago, as a home-rule unit, can't impose a tax or licensing requirement tied to a state-regulated activity without the Illinois General Assembly expressly granting that power. The operators withdrew their request for an emergency order blocking the tax outright, so it has stayed in effect while the underlying case continues — meaning a Chicago bettor is, for now, paying a tax that its own collector might not have the legal authority to impose.

Is It Still Worth Betting Legally in Illinois?

For anyone physically in the state, the legal apps are still the only lawful option, and the Illinois Gaming Board license behind each of the ten operators is real oversight, not a formality. Reporting from January 2026 pointed to a roughly 15% drop in statewide handle that coincided with the new taxes, and a repeal bill aimed at the per-wager fee specifically has been introduced in Springfield — but as of this writing it hasn't passed, and the handle still topped $1 billion in July 2026 despite the extra cost. None of this is a way to make money regardless of which app absorbs the fee. It's 21+ entertainment that now comes with a line-item cost per bet, on top of whatever the odds already take. If it stops feeling like entertainment, 1-800-GAMBLER is free and confidential.

The short list

1. 1. DraftKings — Built real carve-outs around Illinois's per-wager tax

   DraftKings told reporters in September 2025 it would not charge its Illinois per-wager fee on parlays of $10 or more, single-event wagers of $50 or more, bonus bet tokens, or for players at Silver tier or higher in its loyalty program — a structural response rather than a blanket surcharge. It has carried an Illinois online license since the market's June 2020 launch.

2. 2. FanDuel — The market leader, now charging per bet to offset the same tax

   FanDuel added a 50-cent surcharge to Illinois wagers in mid-2025 to offset the state's graduated tax and per-wager fee, confirmed by the company in June 2025 reporting, though it has temporarily waived the charge during specific promotional stretches since. It remains one of only two operators (with DraftKings) large enough to hit Illinois's top 40% tax bracket.

3. 3. BetMGM — Licensed statewide, no publicized per-wager surcharge as of 2026

   BetMGM holds an Illinois Gaming Board online license and, unlike the two largest operators, has not publicly announced a bettor-facing per-wager fee — though it is still subject to the same graduated state tax and, in Chicago, the city's 10.25% local tax.

4. 4. Hard Rock Bet — Licensed in Illinois, not exclusive here the way it is in Florida

   Hard Rock Bet runs as one of ten licensed Illinois mobile skins rather than the sole operator it is under Florida's tribal compact — a useful contrast for a bettor comparing states, since Illinois's commercial-license model means no single brand controls the market.

Questions this list actually answers