Whether you are a fan of the Cubs, White Sox, Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Fire, Red Stars or Bandits, the Illinois legislature has gone all-in on giving bettors at the nation the chance to place online sports bets on the house team — well, the expert ones anyway.
Lawmakers passed SB0690 on June 2, which puts Illinois among the over a dozen states, plus Washington, D.C., to authorize legal US sports gambling.
As of this typing, the Illinois online sports betting bill has not yet been signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (don’t worry, he’s likely to do it), along with the Magic 8 Ball is stating”Reply Hazy” as to when the sports wagers may be put, although officials are optimistic for around the beginning of the NFL season that kicks off Sept. 5.
How Illinois Online Sports Betting Efforts Began
In May 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Skilled And Amateur Sports Protection Act Because of a challenge from the state of New Jersey that opened door to states beyond Nevada to launch sports gambling in the United States.
In the previous calendar year, either through grandfathered laws or newly approved laws, more than a dozen countries, including Illinois, and Washington, D.C. have employed or are poised to start some type of legalized sports betting. NJ online sports gambling is booming and online sports betting in PA got out of the starter’s blocks in June 2019.
Illini Legislators Ante Up
In the past legislative session, state Rep. Mike Zalewski arrived at the state Capitol using multiple sports gambling proposals determined to take advantage of their perceived economic advantages.
Stakeholders out of racetrack and casino holders, to video gambling operators and sports leagues, participated in weeks of push-me, pull-you negotiations.
A fierce point of contention has been”bad-actor” speech in a fifth proposal brought by Rep. Robert Rita, that included a proposal by Rivers Des Plaines Casino and its manager initially searching for a three-year moratorium of betting participation by online-only operators FanDuel and DraftKings. The fantasy giants have been accused of continuing to function after a 2015 non-binding attorney general belief that they”clearly reflect gambling.”
The proposed law that emerged on June 2 from a two-day special semester knocked down the penalty to 18 months, giving casinos an advantage in establishing sportsbooks. The online sports betting providers can get around this by partnering with a casino and employing the partners name, such as Caesars is DraftKings. But this likely isn’t what DraftKings wants since it couldn’t use its own manufacturer.
10 Things You Might Want To Know About Illinois Online Sports Betting
1. When can you bet. At this writing, there’s still no firm date when Illinois online sports gambling will start. The approved bill has not yet been signed into law, even however Gov. J.B. Pritzker says he’ll do so. Some officials say gambling will begin in time for the NFL season, while some say that is incredibly optimistic. We are going to advise when the picture is clearer.
2. Where can you wager. After licenses are approved, casinos, racetracks and kiosks in pick sports venues will offer betting first, with complete Illinois online sports gambling available afterwards. In a planned pilot program during the initial year of sport betting, there will be 2,500 kiosks, very similar to people selling lottery scratch-offs, where patrons can place sports bets. Another 2,500 more are planned in the second year of sports betting. Seven sports places, (pg. 243) that seat 17,000 or more, are qualified to open sportsbooks as well. They are: Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, United Center, Guaranteed Speed Field, SeatGeek Stadium, Chicagoland Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway. Though not implemented yet, Washington, D.C., too, will have live betting in sports places. Pennsylvania and New Jersey sports sites allow cellular wagering.
3. You need to be this old to wager. 21 years old… it doesn’t matter how tall you’re.
4. No in-state collegiate gambling. When in Illinois, bettors can place wagers on any and all of the professional leagues but favorite local college teams or their in-state alma mater is off limits. The athletic directors of many Division 1 colleges talked with lawmakers earlier this season, creating a case for in-state faculty sports to be exempt from wagering. They cited that student athletes could become targets for those wanting to get inside information or wanting to affect players or the outcome. Lawmakers agreed and the collegiate exemption is in place. Thus, Notre Dame YES! Northwestern NO!
5. Mobile betting. The strategy is for Illinois mobile gambling to happen soon after sportsbooks are up and running at establishments. For the first 18 months, the wagers will need to be set on an app or site centered with a brick-and-mortar operation, in which you also will have to register before you can bet. (pg. 242).
6. DraftKings and FanDuel prohibition. DraftKings and FanDuel would be the seeming immediate losers in the Illinois sports betting legislation having been placed in a proverbial”penalty box” The online-only dream sports behemoths are prevented from entering the betting market for 18 months, giving casinos that a head start in both retail and online. Adding salt to the wound, Rush Street Interactive, a minority owner and manager of Rivers Casino, will be allowed to implement its cellular platform to state bettors as DraftKings and FanDuel have to sit on their thumbs. Rush Street took advantage of a similar partnership with New Jersey’s SugarHouse Casino to get a leap on cellular in neighboring Pennsylvania. Not that the two fantasy sports providers are completely out of plays, they could partner with an existing casino but can’t utilize their brand or”skin.” For instance, DraftKings which partners with Caesars could participate under their umbrella.
7. Six brand new casinos. An amendment (pg. 227) to the bill, brings Chicago its first casino that will be privately owned and have about 4,000 seats offered for gambling. Until the Chicago casino opens it might take three years. The remaining six casinos, together with 2,000 seats, will be in the suburbs of Danville, Rockford, Waukegan and Williamson County with 1,200 seats (pg. 640). The casino growth could bring an extra $360 million to state coffers from permit and program fees.
8. More gaming expansion. The bill also allows existing casinos with less than 1,200 seats to grow to 2,000. Horse racetracks are permitted 1,200 seats. SB690 additionally enables poker and video slots at Chicago O’Hare International and Chicago Midway International airports, and only be available in private clubs, not the public.
9. Official information required. Illinois is the second state in the nation, the other being Tennessee, to demand official league data (pg. 252) for many in-play and prop bets. The professional leagues will not be paid an integrity fee but will get earnings for providing the information.
10. Who will benefit. The inhabitants of Illinois. The tax rate for sports gambling is 15 percent generating roughly $12 billion in revenue during the next six decades. A massive chunk of that will come from gambling license fees, (pg. 234) $3 million to $20 million based on the kind of facility and breadth of its operations and their subsequent renewal. The money will help fund a $45 billion”Rebuild Illinois” strategy for roads, mass transit, bridges, schools and universities and other endeavors. Chicago’s one off share of its casino earnings will go toward financing police and firefighter pension funds.
Illinois Long Bullish On Gambling Rome was not built in a day would be the clich??, well neither is Illinois online sports gambling.
The step on the governor’s desk is just the latest in a rich, or not-so-rich, history of gambling in Illinois:
1800s: Illinois was home to unlicensed riverboats along with the riffraff attracted to them.
1920s: Betting on horses has been legal and the height sophistication and popularity. In 1921,”Shoeless” Joe Jackson and seven teammates were found not guilty on conspiring to throw the World Series but nevertheless prohibited from baseball. About the same time, Prohibition and the growth of Al Capone, Charlie Birger and other gangsters profiting from bootlegging and illegal gaming while battling”untouchable” Eliot Ness.
1979: The Land of Lincoln legislated a state lottery to benefit education.
1986: Accredited charity gambling was OK’d.
1990s: Riverboat casinos in 1991were required to flee rivers while available then enabled in ???99 to drop anchor with gambling complexes constructed around them in permanent docks.
2000s: In 2001, Illinois was the first state to sell lottery tickets online. In 2009, the state approved the Video Gambling Act but it took two decades to implement due to court challenges. To many, the payout hasn’t been worth it. The Casinos Act passed muster in 2011, expanding casinos from rivers, allowing games offered at pari-mutuel racetracks to include slot machines.
Which brings us to 2019, where legal Illinois online sports gambling will occur sometime in the fall. Keep this site in mind for all your future Indiana online sports betting information and updates!
(Chicago Cubs Photo: Patrick Gorski/USA TODAY Sports)
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