St. Charles’ video gambling revenues approach $7M monthly, remain steady through April

Video gambling enthusiasts wagered almost $6.7 million last month across 25 locations in St. Charles, according to a report from the Illinois Gaming Board.

St. Charles Police Chief James Keegan submitted the April video gaming totals report to the City Council’s Government Operations Committee on Monday.

April’s bets were down slightly from the $6.8 million wagered in March, after rising steadily since January, the report showed.

In the six-month span from November 2022 through April, the average monthly amount wagered in St. Charles was almost $6.5 million.

Since January 2012, a total of $293 million has been played on video gambling machines in St. Charles, generating $1.2 million in revenue for the city and about $6.8 million for the state.

According to the 2022 report by the Commission on Governmental Forecasting and Accountability, the state of Illinois collected $762 million in revenue from video gambling in FY2022.

The COGFA report shows that revenue from video gambling in Illinois has been increasing rapidly since it was introduced in 2012 and is close to overtaking the Lottery as the state’s largest gambling revenue source.

The Illinois Lottery generated a record $833 million in revenue in FY2022, but has increased less than 5% since FY2013.

Other gambling outlets account for just over 15% of the total gambling revenue in Illinois. In FY2022, sports wagering brought in $142 million, riverboat casinos brought in $140 million and horse racing brought in $7 million.