The Illinois Senate recently passed Senate Bill 516, which now moves on to the House. The measure would allow existing riverboat casinos to move to a new location—including a new city—and remove the requirement that the vessels be located on rivers. Penn National Gaming has been lobbying for the legislation, since it wants to move its Hollywood Casino Aurora from the downtown riverfront to a new location near Interstate 88.
The bill’s sponsor, state Senator Linda Holmes, said it’s possible her measure could lead towns to battle each other for casino licenses, using economic development incentives as bait. The city of Rockford has fired the first shot with full-page ads in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers in the form of a letter to Chicago Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot. The ads read, “We support your efforts for a casino in Chicago. And we hope you’ll support ours.” The “letter” was signed by Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara and Rockford Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Einar Forsman. McNamara also will make the case to legislators in Springfield.
State Senator Dave Syverson said it’s “urgent” that lawmakers expand the number of casinos in the state, since summer break begins at the end of May and a $400 million Ho-Chunk casino could be approved across the state line in Beloit, Wisconsin. Syverson said local legislators recently discussed the issue with Lightfoot. “We are both in the same situation. We are losing lots of revenue to out-of-state casinos. As Chicago goes, so goes the state,” he said.
Syverson said the ads are designed to let “other statewide leaders know that this is an important issue, and that there is statewide support, not just for our communities.” He said casino tax revenue would help fund infrastructure improvements. McNamara added a Rockford casino could create 800-1,100 jobs and generate $6-$8 million in tax revenue for the city.
McNamara noted Lightfoot has indicated she supports a Chicago casino. He pointed out the ad said Rockford and Chicago may have been excluded from casino expansion for the past 20 years due to “political contributions, clout or simply a fear of competition that’s kept casinos out of our cities. That has to change.”
McNamara said casino expansion should be tied to legalized sports betting, which is being debated in the House in regard to H 3308, a placeholder bill introduced by House Revenue and Finance Committee Chairman, state Rep. Mike Zalewski. Governor J.B. Pritzker’s budget proposal included $200 million in upfront sports wagering licensing fees–$10 million apiece from 20 operators. State Rep. Bob Rita, chairman of the House Sales, Amusement & Other Taxes Subcommittee, proposed Amendment 5 which stated the $10 million fee would be an advance payment of taxes. He said, “We think it’s possible to get 20 operators to pay $10 million for a license. We haven’t heard otherwise. No one has come out in opposition of the licensing fee. No one has really touched on it yet. How we get there is something we will work on with the casinos, racinos and other gaming entities.”
Rita’s committee held its second informational hearing on the five amendments to Zalewski’s bill, with testimony from local government officials, representatives from the United States eSports Federation, several sportsbook operators, the University of Illinois and anti-gambling advocates. “We want to make sure everybody is heard as we get closer to working with Rep. Zalewski on crafting a sports betting bill,” Rita said.
Rita added, with the session ending May 31, “It doesn’t seem like a lot of time, but there’s still a lot of time to put something together. What makes a difference is that we had Governor Pritzker come out and say this is something he’s interested in. When the governor says he wants something, that changes the dynamics a lot. It makes me confident we will get this done.”
At the hearing, mobile sports betting was the primary topic. Sportradar Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs Jake Williams, speaking on behalf of industry trade group iDEA, said, “Legal and online gaming offers significant tax benefits. Generally, the intention is to channel and absorb all of the sports betting that is going on in a state. What I mean by that is that right now, today, there are people betting with their corner bookie or other illegal methods in Illinois. We want to bring that into the legal framework.” He added, “Not using mobile would hurt. Make me drive to register or place a bet, I’m not going to do it. It’s too far, it’s too inconvenient. I think it’s best to offer that in the beginning.”
Zalewski responded, “We’re very much interested in the mobile marketplace as it relates to sports betting. We’ve become very aware that states that don’t have a mobile piece, or if it takes too long to launch it, don’t fare very well.”
John Pappas, public affairs officer at GeoComply, the geofencing company used by most legal gaming stakeholders in the U.S., showed a map of New Jersey indicating 80 percent of New Jersey’s sports betting revenue comes from mobile devices; it also showed potential bettors driving over bridges or up to the border to bet. “We think 50 percent of all wagers in Illinois will take place near the border,” he said.
Committee members also heard testimony from eSports representative Bob Greenlee of Tusk Strategies who said with a global audience of 500 million, esports is popular among with millennials and will continue to grow. Zalewski commented, “In reality, we’re very nervous about esports because I think we don’t understand it and we all worry about things we don’t understand. Sports are on TV, it’s live athletes performing these activities we can all see, and there’s an objective outcome. In video games, that’s not necessarily the case.”
Another issue concerned whether or not to allow betting on collegiate sports events. Speaking on behalf of 12 of the 13 Division I universities in the state, Illinois State University Athletic Director Larry Lyons said Illinois universities oppose legal sports betting on collegiate sports. He said, “We’re looking at protecting young athletes and college kids, so prohibiting betting on in-state games, that works for us. We need to protect our student-athletes and our campuses.” He requested that any bill including collegiate sports ban betting on in-state college teams with games occurring inside state lines; require a minimum age for on-campus student gamblers; ban on-campus sports-wagering advertising; limit online and in-person sports betting outside a specified radius from collegiate events; and prohibit prop, risky or other in-play wagers.
Other witnesses included Secretary Grace Hou from the state Department of Human Services, who discussed expanding gambling addiction programs. Anita Bedell, executive director of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction, spoke out against mobile gambling, stating, “Rather than addressing the problem, you want to make it worse but putting it on the phone.”
