Fairmount Park Granted Sports Betting License With FanDuel, Found Suitable For Racino

The Illinois Gaming Board ( IGB ) granted Fairmount Park a sports wagering license and determined that it was initially suitable to open an & ldquo, racino, and / or % of the business on Thursday morning.

That & rsquo is the most important step in the process, even though it does not guarantee that the racino will be approved. And acceptance is very probable.

FanDuelwill act as the sports betting operator for Fairmount Park & rsquo.

The decision comes after several months of rumors linking Fairmount Park to FanDuel. FanDuel initially secured sports betting market access via a partnership with Par-A-Dice Casino in August, a surprise at the time.

Fairmount can offer up to 900 gaming positions at slot machines and table games, as well as a sportsbook. The expansion is expected to cost at least $50 million.

In the Land of Lincoln, FanDuel will presently offer two financial sports betting options. Once the repairs to Hawthorne Race Course and Fairmount Park are finished, Illinois residents may finally have two racinos.

Depending on how quickly the rest of the acceptance process moves along, the Fairmount Park expansion’s timeline is currently unknown.

FanDuel and Fairmount will vie for St. Louis base traffic

Less than 15 days separate the DraftKings at Casino Queen and Fairmount Park from St. Louis. In contrast, Argosy Casino Alton is just around 30 days ahead.

Consumers in the St. Louis region will have plenty of competition because all three sites will offer sports betting in addition to games and table game.

Even though the information is important, if the requirement for in-person sports gambling registration remained, it would have even greater impact.

That’s not the case, however, due to an ongoing executive order from Gov. JB Pritzker. Mobile registration is in place until at least Nov. 14, a date that will likely be extended based on the COVID-19 outlook in Illinois.

Fairmount Park would have been a valuable downstate hub for FanDuel if the state also required in-person membership.

FanDuel also joins the growing list of Illinois sportsbooks to offer multiple retail locations.

PointsBet, whose primary partner is Hawthorne Race Course, will also open three Chicago suburban off-track betting sites in the near future. DraftKings, meanwhile, will eventually open a retail sportsbook at Wrigley Field in partnership with the Chicago Cubs.

For new providers, one less financial opportunity

While Fairmount Park & rsquo, the sportsbook’s partner, comes as no surprise, it can still be a disadvantage for new operators.

One of the few financial establishments known to be interested in sports gambling without a partner was Fairmount Park. It is now formally connected to FanDuel.

Jumer’s Casino & Hotel is interestedIt won’t be finished until the second quarter of 2021 in terms of providing sports gambling, but Twin River will probably buy it.

We don’t know if sports venues like Guaranteed Rate Field and the United Center are interested in acquiring one under Jerry Reinsdorf & lsquo’s ownership, but they do not have official sports betting partners.

As a result, the plan for the BetMGM sportsbook in Illinois remain a mystery. They have applied for a sports betting license, but their pathway to market access is unclear.