Posted on: August 17, 2025, 05:33h.
Last updated on: August 17, 2025, 05:33h.
- Moves in response to state’s recent tax increase on sports betting
- Circa’s $10 minimum is the largest announced to date
Circa Sports and ESPN Bet joined a pack of rivals in announcing new minimums on sports wagers placed in Illinois, marking the latest responses to the state’s recently implemented tax increase.
Effective Aug. 8, Penn Entertainment’s ESPN Bet moved to a $1 required bet size in the Land of Lincoln, up from a previous level of 10 cents. Circa, which employs a high-volume, low-hold model, went to a $10 minimum in the Midwest state — by far the largest minimum announced to date.
We are reluctant to compromise our best-in-class betting splits or charge our customers a per-bet fee,” said Circa Sports founder and CEO Derek Stevens on X. “Beginning Monday, September 1, a $10 minimum wager will take effect, protecting the vast majority of bettors in Illinois. No one should have to pay a fee to make a wager.”
The fee he’s referencing is what amounts to a per bet transaction cost — something DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel are charging Illinois bettors. The state is now charging operators 25 cents per bet on the first 20 million bets booked with that figuring doubling to 50 cents for every bet after 20 million.
Circa Illinois Move Not Surprising
Circa, which last week won an untethered sports betting license in Missouri, moving to a required bet size in Illinois isn’t surprising. To his credit, Stevens implied it was a credible possibility well in advance of an official announcement.
On a June episode of the Vegas Stats & Information Network’s (VSiN) “Follow the Money” show, Stevens said Illinois’ decision to implement a per bet tax would likely mean the days of small bets without minimums were gone.
In a video posted on X, Stevens made clear that Circa will not embrace a per bet transaction fee and that it’s moving to “protect the sports bettor,” emphasizing that the “real sports bettors of Illinois who should not have to pay a fee to make a bet.”
The video takes an unveiled shot at rivals DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDue, overtly pointing out that those operators are charging transaction surcharges in Illinois.
Illinois Minimums Viewed More Favorably
With the additions of Circa and ESPN Bet, the list of operators using bet size mandates in Illinois is now at least five with BetMGM, Hard Rock, and Rush Street Interactive being the others. Either way, gaming companies are responding to the state’s second sports betting tax increase in the span of a year.
However, the minimum bet size is playing better in the court of public opinion because the requirements are small and well below the average wager size for a vast majority of bettors.
On the other hand, the per bet surcharges have been met with derision with bettors and industry observers saying those moves amount to no more than DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel passing their tax obligations onto customers.
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