New Amendment Would Remove Illinois In-Person Sports Betting Registration Requirement By March 5

A proposed amendment to HB 3136, aiming to eliminate the in-person sports betting registration requirement in Illinois by March 5, 2022, was passed in the Illinois Senate on Thursday evening.

The House must now approve it by the end of Thursday. Furthermore, the act allows for in-person betting on state college teams.

Currently, full mobile registration is only possible once the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) awards an online-only sportsbook license. However, the likelihood of this happening is low, given that these licenses come with a steep price tag of $20 million each and would primarily favor established market leaders.

The online-only license trigger is detailed in Section 25-45, as referenced below. The text of the new amendment is as follows:

A person is required to create a sports betting account in person at the facility before the issuance of the first license under Section 25-45 or by March 5, 2022, depending on which occurs first.

The Illinois Legislature is currently conducting a filibuster program. It seems that the in-person register in Illinois may be terminated if there is enough support from the House lawmakers.

What justifies the need for the article?

The way the law was written resulted in Illinois cornering itself.

Legislators presumed that an entity would provide the necessary $20 million to obtain a mobile-only license. The rationale was that companies like DraftKings, FanDuel, and others would be interested as this was the only avenue for market entry.

Rather than going it alone, those companies chose to collaborate with land-based facilities to gain market access. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, an executive order was enforced by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, eliminating the requirement to physically visit a retail sportsbook for the verification of an online sports betting account.

Over the course of those seven-plus months, DraftKings and FanDuel emerged as the leading sports betting operators in Illinois. They consistently outperformed all other operators in terms of monthly handle and revenue.

Therefore, there is no reasonable cause for either operator to gamble on an online-only license. Another gaming operator might still consider it, but considering the high expense and the fact that it significantly benefits those already in the market, it’s understandable why it isn’t the most attractive offer.

The requirement to register for a casino physically was not meant to be a long-term practice. However, if no one placed a bid and no legislative rectification was introduced, this method would continue indefinitely.

This is why the action is necessary.

Illinois sporting betting’s present and future

Even though in-person registration has been available since early April, the sports betting market in Illinois is flourishing.

Illinois consistently ranks third in the US in terms of management, trailing behind New Jersey and Nevada. In August, the Land of Lincoln reported $400.4 million.

If Illinois implements online registration, it could potentially overtake Nevada for the second overall position. While this has occurred in the past, without a steady influx of new customers, Illinois couldn’t maintain the progress.

Moreover, this would enable a greater number of bookmakers to operate in Illinois. It is known that BetMGM, Unibet, theScore Bet, Bally Bet, Golden Nugget, and WynnBet have expressed interest. The potential list of interested parties probably extends beyond these.

A slight modification to HB 3136 might have some significance. We’ll keep you informed as the story unfolds.