FanDuel Instituting Per Bet Fee For Illinois Sports Betting Customers

• Fanduel today announced a new $0.50 per bet fee for Illinois sports betting customers
• The fee is in response to the Illinois per bet fee on licensed operators
• Fanduel will repeal the fee if the state reverse’s direction on their plan

FanDuel today announced a new $0.50 fee for each bet placed by Illinois sports betting customers as a solution to driving costs in the Prairie State.

The $0.50 transaction fee will be imposed on customers for each bet placed on the FanDuel platform in Illinois, in direct response to the state’s decision to impose its own $0.25 or $0.50 fee on every bet placed with its licensed operators. The fees will begin on Sept. 1, 2025.

The per bet customer fee will be repealed if the state reverses its decision, FanDuel announced.

“It is important to recognize that there is an optimal level for gaming tax rates that enables operators to provide the best experience for customers, maximize market growth and maximize revenue for states over time. We are disappointed that the Illinois transaction fee will disproportionately impact lower wagering recreational customers while also punishing those operators who have invested the most to grow the online regulated market in the state,” Peter Jackson, Flutter CEO, said in a release.

Direct Response to Illinois Sports Betting Costs

FanDuel noted that it absorbed the 2024 tax increase in Illinois on its own without impacting its customers, but cannot do so anymore. With its new tiered tax-system, FanDuel pays a 40% tax rate on gaming revenues in the state. The new per bet fee imposed by Illinois lawmakers will see that rate jump to 57% or 60%.

The new Illinois sports betting fee, included in its proposed fiscal year budget, will impose a $0.25 charge on an operator’s first 20,000,000 online sports bets taken in the state each year. The fee will increase to $0.50 per bet for every single bet taken after the initial 20,000,000 bets.

According to a report from the Chicago Tribune, the new fee is expected to bring in $36 million annually to the state.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) has yet to sign the budget into law, but has said he will do so.

The new fees from both the state and FanDuel will likely drive customers to do business with the unregulated markets, Jackson noted.

“We also believe the introduction of the Illinois transaction fee will likely motivate some Illinois-based customers to bet with unregulated operators. These operators do not contribute tax revenue to the state, will not collect the newly announced transaction fee and do not offer the same levels of customer protection that regulated operators provide,” he said.

Similar to Previous DraftKings Plan

FanDuel’s new plan is similar to one DraftKings offered last year. In 2024, DraftKings leadership announced  it would be instituting a new “gaming tax surcharge” on winning bets in New York, Illinois, Vermont, and Pennsylvania as a way to combat rising tax rates and the cost of doing business in certain states.

DraftKings announced the new surcharge during its Q2 2024 earnings report as a way to ensure an operational effective tax rate of approximately 20% in those states. DraftKings representatives never announced specific tax surcharge rates, but they did reveal it would have varied from state to state. In promotional materials, DraftKings showed the example of a +100 odds ticket for $10 in Illinois winning a total of $19.68, instead of the usual $20.

After customer backlash, DraftKings dropped the gaming tax surcharge from its plans.

FanDuel’s fee, however, will be imposed on all customer bets in the state, not just winning tickets.