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Illinois‘ new tax on sports prediction markets is already the subject of court challenges. Now, a state legislator wants to kill the plan altogether.
Republican Rep. Travis Weaver filed House Bill 5811 this month, legislation that would repeal the new tax on “exchange wagers”
that was approved as part of the new state budget at the start of June.
As well as abolishing the yet-to-be-enforced tax, Weaver’s legislation would also remove the new definition of “exchange wager”,
which the budget bill legally defined within Illinois sports wagering framework as “an agreement, contract, transaction, or swap that is
offered, traded, or executed on a prediction market or exchange tied to a sporting contest or sporting event.”
The budget, signed by Gov. JB Pritzker on June 16, included the late addition of a per-wager tax of 1.75% on all sports trades
made within the state on prediction market platforms. After the first 5 million sports exchange wagers processed on a platform
during the fiscal year, that rate would double to 3.5% for the rest of that same year.
Weaver’s opposition follows party lines
The new prediction market tax was one of five new taxes approved by the Democratic-majority Illinois General Assembly this year,
along with levies on fantasy sports, digital advertising, cryptocurrency, and social media platforms.
Speaking to SBC Americas by phone, Rep. Weaver criticized the state’s Democratic leaders for introducing a slate of new taxes
that he argued were not properly considered or evaluated. He also cast doubt on whether Illinois has the legal standing
to tax things such as prediction markets.
“Typically, you would include a tax in a budget because you think it will raise money, but they actually didn’t include any
revenue in the budget for many of these taxes,” Weaver said. “Instead, they included money in the budget for the attorney general
to defend them because they’re not even sure if these taxes are legal. I think a lot of these things fit under federal interstate
commerce and should be handled at the federal level.
“I also think that gamblers in the state of Illinois are taxed an insane amount. Look at what we have for online sports wagering.
Every time the budget’s a little bit short, we go to the pocket of sports bettors. I think it’s ridiculous that we’re inventing brand-new,
first-in-the-nation taxes to get even more money out of the Sports Betting market.”
The Illinois legislature is currently in recess before the 2027 session begins in mid-January, but there is a short veto session in late November and early December.
“In this little window, where we’re finding out if they’re legal or not before they’re collecting any revenue,
now is when we’re going to have the best chance to kill them,” Weaver said.
Illinois first used per-wager tax on Sportsbooks
Weaver was referencing Illinois’ notable state-regulated Sports Betting tax changes of the last two years:
Effective July 1, 2024, Illinois changed from a flat sports wagering tax of 15% of revenue to a sliding scale that starts at 20%
and stretches all the way up to 40% at the highest level
Effective July 1, 2025, Illinois began charging online Sportsbooks a per-wager tax of 25 cents per bet, rising to 50 cents per bet
after the first 20 million wagers in a fiscal year
The per-wager Sports Betting tax, which the new prediction markets tax loosely replicates, prompted all 10 of Illinois’ licensed
Sportsbooks to either implement a customer surcharge or a new minimum bet amount. It also sparked copycat bills from lawmakers in other states.
In a similar fashion to Weaver’s bill, some prominent state legislators introduced attempts to repeal the per-wager betting tax earlier this year.
Illinois‘ new tax on sports prediction markets is already the subject of court challenges. Now, a state legislator wants to kill the plan altogether.
Republican Rep. Travis Weaver filed House Bill 5811 this month, legislation that would repeal the new tax on “exchange wagers”
that was approved as part of the new state budget at the start of June.
As well as abolishing the yet-to-be-enforced tax, Weaver’s legislation would also remove the new definition of “exchange wager”,
which the budget bill legally defined within Illinois sports wagering framework as “an agreement, contract, transaction, or swap that is
offered, traded, or executed on a prediction market or exchange tied to a sporting contest or sporting event.”
The budget, signed by Gov. JB Pritzker on June 16, included the late addition of a per-wager tax of 1.75% on all sports trades
made within the state on prediction market platforms. After the first 5 million sports exchange wagers processed on a platform
during the fiscal year, that rate would double to 3.5% for the rest of that same year.
Weaver’s opposition follows party lines
The new prediction market tax was one of five new taxes approved by the Democratic-majority Illinois General Assembly this year,
along with levies on fantasy sports, digital advertising, cryptocurrency, and social media platforms.
Speaking to SBC Americas by phone, Rep. Weaver criticized the state’s Democratic leaders for introducing a slate of new taxes
that he argued were not properly considered or evaluated. He also cast doubt on whether Illinois has the legal standing
to tax things such as prediction markets.
“Typically, you would include a tax in a budget because you think it will raise money, but they actually didn’t include any
revenue in the budget for many of these taxes,” Weaver said. “Instead, they included money in the budget for the attorney general
to defend them because they’re not even sure if these taxes are legal. I think a lot of these things fit under federal interstate
commerce and should be handled at the federal level.
“I also think that gamblers in the state of Illinois are taxed an insane amount. Look at what we have for online sports wagering.
Every time the budget’s a little bit short, we go to the pocket of sports bettors. I think it’s ridiculous that we’re inventing brand-new,
first-in-the-nation taxes to get even more money out of the Sports Betting market.”
The Illinois legislature is currently in recess before the 2027 session begins in mid-January, but there is a short veto session in late November and early December.
“In this little window, where we’re finding out if they’re legal or not before they’re collecting any revenue,
now is when we’re going to have the best chance to kill them,” Weaver said.
Illinois first used per-wager tax on Sportsbooks
Weaver was referencing Illinois’ notable state-regulated Sports Betting tax changes of the last two years:
Effective July 1, 2024, Illinois changed from a flat sports wagering tax of 15% of revenue to a sliding scale that starts at 20%
and stretches all the way up to 40% at the highest level
Effective July 1, 2025, Illinois began charging online Sportsbooks a per-wager tax of 25 cents per bet, rising to 50 cents per bet
after the first 20 million wagers in a fiscal year
The per-wager Sports Betting tax, which the new prediction markets tax loosely replicates, prompted all 10 of Illinois’ licensed
Sportsbooks to either implement a customer surcharge or a new minimum bet amount. It also sparked copycat bills from lawmakers in other states.
In a similar fashion to Weaver’s bill, some prominent state legislators introduced attempts to repeal the per-wager betting tax earlier this year.