You Get A License! And You! Trio Of Casinos Get OK To Add Sports Betting, Including Newbie Bally’s

Written By Joe Boozell on June 10, 2021
ballys casino in illinois

The Illinois Gaming Board ( IGB ) announced at Wednesday & rsquo, s meeting that Bally & d’s Corporation has formally taken ownership of Jumer & dsqua, the casino and hotel, and the hotel.

In addition to the positive news from Illinois, the regional gambling company was also granted a financial sports gambling license by the IGB.

During the IGB meeting, retail sports betting licenses were also received by Harrah’s Joliet and Harrah’s Metropolis.

Before initiating sports betting, the casinos had requested approval from the IGB. Once approved, every game in Illinois could potentially offer financial sports betting.

It is probable that Bally’s will rebrand the Jumer’s casino, however, the new name for the Rock Island location is yet to be decided.

Bally & rsquo, S.W.S., currently does not provide online sports betting in Illinois. However, if it acquires a smart permit, it could offer its sports betting app, known as Bally Bet. This app is currently active in Colorado.

Similarly, theScore Bet has a market access agreement with Harrah’s Joliet, yet it is unclear who the potential mobile partner for Harrah’s Metropolis might be. Both Harrah’s casinos are owned by Caesars.

Regardless, the sports betting industry in Illinois is growing. But with the obligatory in-person registration for online sportsbooks, it’s an unusual period in this indisputably popular market.

The activities gambling landscape in Illinois is complex.

There exist positive and negative aspects that could influence optimism regarding the sports betting industry in Illinois.

Illinois ranked second among all US states in sports betting handle in April. The state, also known as the Land of Lincoln, garnered $537.2 million in bets, surpassing Nevada and Pennsylvania for the first time.

Despite a significant drop from the $633.6 million handle in March, the standing of the US, particularly Illinois, remains incredibly impressive. Thus, it’s easy to see why any sports betting operator would be interested in entering the Prairie State.

Alternatively, Illinois also mandates in-person membership. This is unlikely to change until 2022.

Sportsbooks like DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetRivers have now firmly established their presence in Illinois. They have been functioning online since the previous summer.

Hence, breaking into the Illinois market could be challenging once in-person registration is eliminated. Furthermore, the potential for online sign-ups is still quite a distance away.

Put differently, success will be hard for newcomers to achieve.

The active pursuit of the El market by new operators demonstrates its potential. BetMGM, Unibet & nbsp, and Golden Nugget are also trying to enter at different stages of the process.

How does IL’s online registration be reinstated?

The IGB might grant a smart license to Illinois to recommence remote registration.

However, the availability of applications for a portable license will not commence until December. Due to the slow process of IGB in other areas, the likelihood of a mobile license being granted is not expected until 2022.

The situation is complicated by the fact that mobile-only certificates are costly, with a hefty price tag of $20 million each. These certificates were initially incorporated by the legislature to attract companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel. However, these companies managed to find loopholes into the IL market.

So, is there anyone willing to make a bid? We cannot confirm for sure, but considering the number of operators presently queuing for a share of the Illinois market, it seems likely that someone will cough up the money.

Wayne Parry’s pictures, AP
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Boozell, Joe

Joe Boozell has been a college sports writer for NCAA.com since 2015. His work has also been featured on Bleacher Report, FoxSports.com, and NBA.com. In his younger years, Boozell competed against Anthony Davis and Frank Kaminsky in the basketball scene of Chicagoland. As you can guess, those games were quite the challenge.

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