FanDuel Removes Illinois Per-Bet Fee Until Mid-June

• The sports betting titan announced to Illinois customers its per-bet fee will be removed until mid-June
• The company will do away with its $0.50 per-bet fee through the NBA finals
• Illinois instituted its own per-bet fee to all sports betting operators this past year

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At least through the NBA finals, Illinois FanDuel customers will be able to place bets without the company’s $0.50 per-bet feet.

The sports betting titan announced the decision to its Illinois sports betting customers through email and its social media channels, noting its per-bet fee will be done away with until Friday, June 19.

A request for comment from FanDuel regarding the decision was not returned.

Fee-Free FanDuel Betting for Now

FanDuel instituted a $0.50 surcharge on every bet placed by Illinois sports betting customers as a solution to driving costs in the Prairie State. The fees began on Sept. 1, 2025, 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.

Each licensed sports betting operator in the state chose to institute their own per-bet fee in response to the Illinois decision.

FanDuel representatives have noted the company will repeal its surcharge completely if the state reverses course on its fee system.

Illinois sports are in an INCREDIBLE spot:

🔹 Illini made the semifinals
🔹 Bears won the NFC North
🔹 Cubs won 92 games last year
🔹 White Sox have five Top 100 prospects
🔹 Bulls rank No. 1 in attendance
🔹 Blackhawks on the rise

AND NOW — FEE-FREE BETS ONLY ON FANDUEL! 💸 pic.twitter.com/hMmzAGlt5E

— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) April 9, 2026

The Illinois sports betting fee, which went into effect in July 2025, imposes a $0.25 charge on an operator’s first 20,000,000 online sports bets taken in the state each year. The fee increases to $0.50 per bet for every single bet taken after the initial 20,000,000 bets.

FanDuel surpassed the 20,000,0000 benchmark int he fall and is currently charging customers $0.50 per bet it receives.

Aggressive Illinois Sports Betting Taxes

In 2024, Pritzker signed a budget into law on June 1, 2024, which included a new progressive tax rate for licensed state sportsbooks. The state budget included the first-ever progressive tax rate for sports betting operators in the country, which will see sportsbooks pay a rate of 20% to 40% based on adjusted gross revenues.

Based on the structure, operators pay taxes based on the following adjusted gross sports betting revenue totals:

$0 to $30 million: 20%

$30 million to $50 million: 25%

$50 million to $100 million: 30%

$100 million to $200 million: 35%

Over $200 million: 40%

Additionally, the City of Chicago imposed its own sports betting tax on bets accepted within city limits. The city’s sports betting tax of 10.25% on gross gaming revenue and licensing structure, which requires operators to hold a new city license, went into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

The Sports Betting Alliance filed a lawsuit and requested a temporary restraining order against the City of Chicago last December, seeking to declare the city’s tax on online sports wagering and municipal licensing requirements for operators invalid and unconstitutional.

The Sports Betting Alliance filed the lawsuit in response to Chicago’s new $16.6 billion budget, which includes a new 10.25% tax on online sports betting gross gaming revenues for all licensed operators and new licensing requirements.

In its lawsuit, the Sports Betting Alliance contends it is unconstitutional for the city to license and tax online sports betting. The Illinois constitution, the lawsuit claims, reserves authority over licensing for revenue and income-based taxation to the state, unless expressly delegated.