As a slightly delayed Christmas present to sports bettors, on December 26 the Illinois Gaming Board announced the availability of the first phase of sports betting license applications for casinos, racetracks and large stadiums that want to open sportsbooks.
Gaming Board Administrator Marcus Fruchter said, “Today’s release of applications and Phase I rules is a significant step in the process the General Assembly and Governor J.B. Pritzker began earlier this year: the ethical and transparent implementation of sports wagering in Illinois. IGB staff used responses from the comment period to inform the rules and also derived best practices from states where sports wagering is already being conducted in order to develop a regulatory framework and implementation process that are right for Illinois and will protect the public interest.”
The state’s 10 casinos, three racetracks and up to seven sports venues with at least 17,000 seats can apply for a license, which will cost $10 million for a four-year period, and can then be renewed for another four years for $1 million.
Fruchter didn’t comment on when bettors could eventually place their first bets. “There’s not a timeline because we don’t want to set goals and deadlines that are arbitrary. The goal is to get a sports wagering system that is correct, not a sports wagering process by an artificial deadline. The important part for us is to follow a deliberate process that preserves the integrity of gaming, preserves transparency and independence of our process and make sure that we have a process that is the right approach for Illinois,” he said.
In addition, Fruchter said he wasn’t concerned about losing tax revenue to Indiana, which has generated $2.8 million in sports wagering tax revenue in the first three months. Indiana taxes sports betting revenue at 9.5 percent; Illinois’ sports betting tax rate will be 15 percent.
The three Indiana casinos in the Chicago area—Ameristar in East Chicago, Horseshoe Hammond and Blue Chip in Michigan City—posted a total sports wagering handle of more than $113.2 million in November, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission. Nearly 78 percent, or $87.81 million, came from mobile sports betting. However, in Illinois, mobile-only franchises like FanDuel and Draft Kings must wait 18 months after sports betting launches to enter the market, then must pay $20 million for a license. But Rush Street Interactive’s BetRivers app is expected to be available for wagers; bettors must sign up in-person at the new BetRivers SportsBar at Rivers Casino.
“The key thing is how sports wagering is going to be conducted in Illinois pursuant to our statute, which is different than Indiana. While we respect our Hoosier neighbors, at the same time, Illinois is a different state and we have to do what’s in the best interest of Illinois,” Fruchter said.
He said Phase II of the application process would be offered early next year, covering “the governance of wagering operations, self-exclusion and core issues to be conducted and actualized in 2020.”
State Rep. Mike Zalewski, who managed sports betting measure through the legislature, commented, “Hopefully potential licensees can have their applications reviewed carefully but expeditiously so that bettors can participate in the market in a safe and legal way in the near future.”
Sports betting was legalized under Illinois’ new gambling bill, which also will allow six new casino licenses in downtown Chicago, suburban Cook County, Danville, Rockford, Waukegan and Williamson County, plus up to four horseracing tracks.
