BetMGM has confirmed it will introduce a minimum wager limit of $2.50 in Illinois, effective 16 July. A spokesperson told SiGMA News, “Confirming we did share that change with our Illinois players.” The move comes in response to Illinois becoming the first US state to implement a per-bet tax on sports wagering, which took effect on 1 July. The new minimum applies to all bet types, including parlays, same-game parlays, straight bets, round robins, and live in-play wagers.
Interesting development from : "Starting Wednesday, July 16th, 2025, BetMGM will increase the minimum bet for all wagers to $2.50.
— Aaron Friedman (@FriedmanSports)
This change will be applicable to all wager types – including, but not limited to, straight bets, parlays, Same Game Parlay & round robins."
How sportsbooks have reacted so far
In a shift from previous trends where operators quietly absorbed rising taxes, major brands are now offloading costs onto consumers. Flutter Entertainment, parent company of FanDuel, was the first to respond, announcing a $0.50 transaction fee on every sports bet placed within the state beginning 1 September 2025. DraftKings quickly followed, mirroring the same surcharge. Meanwhile, Fanatics has responded with a $0.25 surcharge of its own.
From 1 July 2025, operators pay $0.25 in tax on each of their initial 20 million wagers within a fiscal year, with the tax later increasing to $0.50 for each wager after that. This is in addition to a progressive tax on Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) that can reach up to 40 percent for major operators like DraftKings and FanDuel. With the per-bet fee, pressure is building on operators’ margins. Many experts have argued that this could inspire a wave of similar moves across jurisdictions. Speaking to SiGMA News, veteran Nevada sportsbook director Robert Walker warned that Illinois’ per-wager tax model is “distressingly simple to copy” and could serve as a flawed but tempting blueprint for other states.
Industry concerns
Experts have raised concerns that the surge could drive betting volume underground, decrease state revenues, and put further pressure on legal books. Jeff Ifrah, a gaming attorney and founding partner at Ifrah PLLC, told SiGMA News that sportsbooks operate on razor-thin margins and must recoup new costs somehow. He termed the hike “not ideal” and cautioned that it would drive bettors away from the legal market. Experts have noted that the impact of such hikes on small-stakes bettors is significant.
Additionally, the Illinois case is also triggering discussion around new monetisation models—particularly peer-to-peer betting and prediction markets, which operate on fundamentally different tax structures. “Peer-to-peer models represent a significant opportunity in states that stick to revenue-based taxes,” longtime Nevada sportsbook director Robert Walker told SiGMA News. “They thrive on low margins and high volume—exactly what a per-bet tax disincentivises.”
Speaking with SiGMA News, Keith Scott Whyte, founder of Safer Gambling Strategies LLC, warned that shifting costs onto consumers could push high-risk gamblers into unregulated markets, which offer no responsible gambling protections. “When legal sportsbooks pass on costs, problem gamblers are more likely to turn to offshore platforms that offer no safeguards. The public health burden increases, while the regulated ecosystem suffers,” he warned.
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