The Illinois Gaming Board plans to fine Accel Entertainment, one of the nation’s largest video gambling operations, $5 million for allegedly making a deal with DraftKings to pay commissions to business owners who put Accel gambling machines in their establishments. Under the Illinois Gaming Act, it is against the law for video gambling operators to offer “inducements” to seek or maintain video gambling business. Regulators allege Accel paid out $21,000 in commissions.
Accel President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Rubenstein said the company would fight the allegations. He said, “This was two public companies that absolutely knew what they were doing and following the law.” Accel attorney Donna More stated, “Accel is committed to conducting itself in accordance with all relevant gaming laws and regulations. As to the allegations in the complaint, the company disagrees with the Illinois Gaming Board and it intends to vigorously defend itself.”
The complaint alleges Accel would offer DraftKings advertising space on its video gambling screens, and Accel would receive $200 from each new customer it drove to DraftKings, provided certain conditions were met. Accel stated it could share those payments with bars or restaurants where the video gambling machines were located.
In its complaint, the gaming board quotes an email from Accel’s chief commercial officer asking that the agreement specify Accel will share some revenue from DraftKings with business owners who have Accel machines. “We want it in the agreement so the gaming board can see that we are operating as a pass-through for the commissions,” the email reads. Another email noted, “We’d like to use the language of ‘participating partner establishments’ and clarify that we are passing these funds from DraftKings to the video gambling establishments. This is essential as we are not allowed to provide compensation to the partner from our funds as it could violate the Illinois Gaming Board inducement rules.”
The gaming board alleges the agreement gave Accel had complete control over the payments, and planned to use them to keep and seek clients. Gaming Commission Administrator Marcus Fruchter signed the 8-page disciplinary complaint.
As of late 2019, Accel had gambling machines in 2,300 locations, or one-third of the machines, in Illinois. The state offers more places to make a bet than any state in the country, including Nevada, according to ProPublica Illinois and WBEZ. However, Illinois’ tax rates on the machines are among the lowest in the U.S., allowing Accel to gain hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue since video gambling machines online in Illinois in 2012.
