ESPN Bet Sets New Sports Betting Minimum in Illinois

• ESPN Bet has set a $1 minimum bet in Illinois
• The changes were made to the house rules for the sportsbook to counteract the state’s per-bet fee
• Caesars Sportsbook, bet365, and Circa Sports are the only remaining operators to not institute a bet fee or minimum in Illinois

ESPN Bet has instituted a new minimum bet amount for Illinois customers to counteract the state’s adopted per-bet fee.

The licensed sports betting operator has set a new $1 minimum bet amount for its customers in the Prairie State, addressing the new per-bet fee plan Illinois instituted for operators earlier this summer.

The change was not officially announced by ESPN Bet, but included in its amended Illinois house rules.

Majority of Illinois Books Have Made Betting Changes

The news was first reported by Geoff Zochodne of Covers.

ESPN BET is the seventh licensed Illinois sportsbook to address the state’s changes to its sports betting market. The state instituted a $0.25 charge on the first 20,000,000 online sports bets taken each year, which increases to $0.50 per bet for every single bet taken after the initial 20,000,000 bets.

Illinois began charging all licensed operators the per-bet fee on July 1. According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, the new fee is expected to bring in $36 million annually to the state.

DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics have all instituted per-bet fees for users to counteract the state’s new charge. Fanatics Sportsbooks will begin charging users $0.25 per bet later this year, while DraftKings and FanDuel both announced a $0.50 charge per bet.

BetMGM, Hard Rock Bet, and BetRivers also made a similar change as ESPN Bet, as the books all upped their minimum bet amounts in Illinois. Hard Rock Bet instituted a $2 minimum bet amount for users, BetMGM instituted a $2.50 minimum bet amount, and BetRivers now requires a $1 minimum bet.

Three Books Have Yet to Make Changes

Circa Sports revealed to Sports Betting Dime two weeks ago that is does not have any current plans for a betting fee or betting minimum in the state, but will continue to evaluate the market as it moves forward.

“We don’t have any plans at the current moment. We are still evaluating what, if anything, we’d be doing. It’s too early. We are evaluating the market,” Jeffrey Benson, Director of Operations for Circa Sports, told Sports Betting Dime

Caesars Sportsbook and bet365 are the two remaining sportsbooks that have yet to address the state fees.