Breaking: Illinois Gaming Board Approves BetMGM For Sports Betting License, Launch Coming Soon

The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) voted to approve BetMGM for a sports betting license on Thursday in a move that was a long time coming. BetMGM applied for a license back in September 2020.

Now, we wait to see when BetMGM will launch in the Land of Lincoln. It will enter via a market access partnership with Par-A-Dice Casino in East Peoria, meaning it is not an applicant for an online-only license.

Online registration returns in Illinois by March 5. With this approval, BetMGM should be ready to go by then, meaning it will be live in time for March Madness betting. BetMGM could technically launch before March 5, but people would need to sign up in East Peoria.

BetMGM will become the seventh online sportsbook in Illinois. Compared to other states with thriving sports betting markets, that is a small number, but it should grow with the return of mobile registration.

What Illinoisans may understand about BetMGM is as follows.

On the same level as DraftKings and FanDuel is BetMGM.

DraftKings and FanDuel are far and away the market leaders in Illinois by monthly handle and revenue.

Given that BetMGM is launching but little later than those two, it is still unclear how it will fare in Illinois. But, it is a major player in other states.

BetMGM recently released data announcing that it was the No. 2 sports betting and online casino operator in markets in which it is live between August-November 2021. It accounted for a 24% market share.

In Illinois, it won’t task DraftKings and FanDuel right away, but it might in the future. Hope to see a strong push for advertising and promotion from BetMGM.

It refers to itself as The King of Sportsbooks, & rdquo, and Jamie Foxx, who is charismatic, serves as the pitchmaster. Kevin Garnett, a legendary NBA player who participated in high school basketball in Chicago, is also an active MGM adviser.

Don’t be surprised to see a well-known past Chicago coach or athlete pen an agreement with BetMGM over the coming weeks given that the company has previously sought out diplomats with local ties.

What caused BetMGM Illinois to take so long to complete?

It & rsquo, it’s easy: in-person registration.

BetMGM applied for an IL license in September 2020. By April 2021, Gov. JB Pritzker brought back in-person registration in Illinois.

Unibet and BetMGM were both pending sports wagering candidates at the time. However, it probably wouldn’t have gone well from a business standpoint if either had launched in an in-person membership environment.

Currently, BetMGM is in charge of Illinois & rsquo, & ldquo’s second launch, sort of. It will almost certainly be prepared to establish by March 5 as a result of the approval.

In 2022, various casinos are likely to follow. However, we are unsure of how quickly they can obtain up and running.

Given that Unibet is a well-known pending sporting betting person, it would appear that it is next in line. We are aware that there are three secret applicants for an online-only license, and operators like Bally Bet, & nbsp, theScore Bet,, Golden Nugget and npspe, as well as WynnBET and not a single operator have verbally stated their interest in launching casinos in Illinois. There is a There’s a good possibility that all or some of those users applied.

We did learn a lot about the method in real-time because this is an unusual position.

In either case, in the upcoming weeks and months, Illinois residents will receive at least one high-profile betting. Additionally, more casino choices will eventually become available.