Bally’s is the latest operator with designs on offering mobile sports wagering in Illinois, having submitted an application for a management services provider license to the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB).
According to the state agency’s website, Bally’s Interactive submitted the application September 12 and would operate as Bally Bet. The application did not specify if Bally Bet would be tethered to its potential downtown casino in Chicago or its existing Rock Island casino in Quad Cities near the Iowa border. Bally’s acquired the Rock Island venue for $120 million in October 2020 as part of its massive expansion and rebranding from Twin River.
A Management Services Provider license is a required component to offer mobile sports betting in Illinois, which has established itself as a top-three market nationally despite currently having only seven operators, according to Sports Handle.
Bally’s submitted its application for the state’s downtown casino license August 11 after beating out Rush Street Interactive and Hard Rock to be the city’s preferred operator. Bally’s Quad Cities location has an owner’s license to offer retail sports wagering but has yet to make that available. Bally Bet launched mobile operations in Iowa in July 2021 and has generated $4.3 million in handle since launch, including $2.3 million through the first eight months of this year.
Bally’s is the fourth operator currently listed as an applicant for a Management Services Provider license, joining Unibet, WynnBET, and Circa Sports.
It is undetermined which casino WynnBET is tethered to, having submitted its application last November. Circa Sports, which provided its paperwork to the IGB in May, is tethered to the Full House Resorts casino being built in Waukegan near the Wisconsin border. That temporary venue, which is expected to include a retail sportsbook, is slated to open before the end of the year, but it is uncertain how quickly mobile wagering would be available.
In addition to these bids, the IGB is also reviewing an application by Tekkorp Digital Acquisition Corp., which is seeking an online-only license to offer mobile sports betting. There are three online-only licenses available in the state, but they come with a $20 million price tag, double the cost of a standard Management Services Provider license.
FanDuel and DraftKings are the two most popular mobile operators in Illinois, accounting for roughly 65 percent of the $496.1 million mobile handle from the most recent revenue report covering July.
BetRivers, Caesars Sportsbook, and PointsBet also conduct mobile wagering in Illinois, which has generated nearly $14.2 billion in all-time handle since accepting its first bets in March 2020, shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic. Nearly 96 percent of that handle has come from mobile betting, which launched in June of 2020.
