Illinois is one of the top three revenue producers in the U.S. sports betting market. Of the nine retail sportsbooks, seven also feature online wagering. But that’s as far as it’s gone to date.
An effort to license operators untethered to a casino, race track or sports venue has failed, and the Illinois Gaming Board re-started the process all over again on November 1, hopefully attracting successful applicants this time, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The latest failure involves Tekkorp Digital, a blank check company, which planned to partner with Caliente Interactive, a Mexican gaming company. The firm was part of Grupo Caliente, whose owner is Jorge Hank Rhon, the former mayor of Tijuana. The group has had to deal with allegations of drug trafficking and other possible crimes. The state accepted the withdrawal of the application October 17.
The other three applicants included Tipico, a Malta-based sportsbook rejected for missing a December deadline; Digital Gaming, a Florida-based company, that withdrew its application after filing; and Fubo Gaming which did not meet minimum requirements and was disqualified.
Applicants must submit for the new round by March 1.
Illinois sports betting generated $8.5 billion in wagers and $611 million in adjusted gross receipts — the money retained after paying out the winnings — in fiscal year 2022, according to state reports. The state collected $92 million in tax revenue, along with another $50 million in licensing fees.
Online wagering accounted for 96 percent of the sports betting revenue generated in fiscal year 2022.
FanDuel, which is associated with the Fairmount Park horse racing track near St. Louis, led everyone with more than $253 million in adjusted gross receipts for the year, according to the report. DraftKings, which is partnered tethered to Casino Queen in East St. Louis, had a handle of $148 million for second place followed by BetRivers in Des Plaines.
Illinois ranks third in total handle among the states that have legal sports betting, according to a September report by Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a California-based research and consulting firm.
