Hip, Hip, Hooray: Illinois Governor Extends Online Sports Betting Registration Window

The people’s voices have been heard.

On Friday, Gov. JB Pritzkerannounced the extension of the online sports betting registration period once again. Until at least Oct. 17, sports betting customers will be able to sign up at an Illinois online sportsbook on their mobile devices.

The move comes as the Prairie State continues to struggle with COVID-19 cases.

With five online Illinois sportsbooks and plenty of sports happening, it’s a great time to be an Illinois sports bettor.

It is difficult to defend Illinois & rsquo; go back to in-person registration

Illinois’ seven-day average of coronavirus-related deaths is above what it was on Aug. 21, when Pritzker last lifted the in-person registration mandate.

The rolling-case ordinary of seven days is now about 97 situations lower than it was back then. However, circumstances have largely stayed the same and peaked in early September.

Illinois is also the onlystate in the Midwest that isn’t allowing youth sports. Defending that policy, Pritzker made these bold comments earlier this week:

& ldquo, I say: This is a pandemic to those who assert that putting your child in danger is about personal choice. This is a sad and unheard-of occurrence for our nation. In a completely society, companions must defend one another in order for us to all like freedom and safety. & rdquo,

Of course, going to a game doesn’t involve the same level of risk as playing email activities. However, it would have been difficult to defend saying that and then making it necessary for customers to visit a casino in order to register for an online sports betting software rather than doing so electronically.

Also, Pritzker asked state agencies to prepare for a “nightmare scenario” of budget cuts earlier this week, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Sports betting, however, brought in around$ 545,000 in state tax revenue in July, and that number will only rise in August and September. Illinois has a monetary incentive to continue to register for wireless sports gambling.

The triumphants? people, with the possible exception of BetRivers

The biggest winners here, outside of consumers, are DraftKings and FanDuel sportsbooks.

With downstate games, the two business titans gained access to the Illinois business. Additionally, it would have hurt Chicagoans’ businesses if they had to travel that far to record.

BetRivers Sportsbookhas long advocated for in-person membership.

Are we certain that smart membership is detrimental to its lower line, even though that may improve its market position against DraftKings and FanDuel?

Illinois sports bettors placed$ 51.4 million in wagers in July, which is a respectable amount given the situation. Almost 93 % of those bets were placed online.

You can see why BetRivers wants to take advantage of its Des Plaines place since it had a month-plus head start to enroll people in June and July.

Yes, the website competition is fiercer. However, we’re likely to see some garish earnings reports in the upcoming months, which wouldn’t have been the case with in-person enrollment. Although the market share of BetRivers & rsquo may be smaller, the overall pot would theoretically be much larger.

As of Thursday morning, there were 230,000 registered sports betting accounts in Illinois. There’s clearly plenty of interest in All five of Illinois’ online casinos can compete in the Land of Lincoln as long as smart registration is available.

That includes PointsBet and William Hill, which both hit the online market in the past week.

Then, which betting in Illinois?

There is now more motivation for operators to join the fight with the extension of wireless enrollment.

Keep an eye on Unibet, which secured market access through Argosy Casino Alton earlier this month. As of now, it should be considered the most likely online sportsbook to launch in Illinois next.

Barstool soft-launched in PennsylvaniaSince Penn National Gaming owns both Hollywood Casinos, it would have simple access to the Illinois industry this week. Nevertheless, there hasn’t been much activity on that front.

We haven’t heard anything from the likes of Fox Bet or BetMGM Illinois, but perhaps that will change with a longer mobile registration window.