Updated: Illinois House OKs Limited Betting On In-State College Teams

The Illinois House of Representatives passed SB 521, which repeals the in-state school sports betting ban, early on Tuesday night.

Now, the bill must pass in the Senate before heading to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk for a final signature. SB 521 passed with overwhelming support, a 96-11 count in the House.

The second possible ballot will be when the Senate is convened for unfinished business because the bill was never discussed during Tuesday’s Senate session. Given its aid in the House, there is a really good opportunity SB 521 will go before the fall.

What might be disappointing is that the bill only allows in-person wager on Illinois college teams. These bets could be placed at Illinois games, racetracks, or off-track betting websites, but not on your wireless devices.

In Iowa and Indiana, it is permitted to wager online on school activities.

The bill also only allows for “Tier 1” bets. A Tier 1 wager is “determined solely by the final score or final outcome of the sports event and is placed before the sports event has begun.” In other words, player props and live betting are not included. For what it’s worth, excluding collegiate player props is pretty standard in legal sports betting states.

Since the act expires on July 1, 2023, it will basically act as a test run. If everything goes according to plan, legislators might then be more receptive to allowing in-state school betting online.

Where was I place a wager on school teams in Illinois?

As of now, there are nearly a dozen retail sportsbooks in Illinois to go along with the six online sportsbooks. They are:

• Alton Argosy Casino
• Club Crestwood & nbsp, Hawthorne
• Club Hawthorne Oak Brook & nbsp,
• DraftKings at the East St. Louis game Queen
• Horse Racing( Collinsville ) FanDuel Sportsbook & amp
• Elgin & nbsp Grand Victoria Casino,
• Race Course at Hawthorne( Stickney )
• Aurora Hollywood Casino
• Joliet & nbsp, Hollywood Casino
• Par-A-Dice Casino( East Peoria ) & nbsp
• Grill( Prospect Heights ), Player & rsquo, & nbsp,
• Des Plaines’ Rivers Casino

If the bill passes, bettors in Illinois would be able to bet on college teams such as Northwestern, Illinois, Northern Illinois in time for college football season in the fall.

What else does SB 521 contain?

The only gaming item in SB 521 is in-state college sports betting, n & rsquo.

Wintrust Arena would be able to obtain a sports betting permit thanks to the bill. Wintrust is home to the Chicago Sky of the WNBA and the DePaul Blue Demons and is situated in Chicago & rsquo’s South Loop.

As of now, the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) has not handed out any licenses to sports venues. Wrigley Field will apply for one at some point, as it has an agreement with DraftKings to open a retail sportsbook at the park.

However, the IGB has not yet received a request from Wrigley and DraftKings.

Additionally, the bill includes a number of clean-up items for video gaming terminals( VGTs ), casinos, horse racing, and sports betting.

What & rsquo, is SB 521 not included?

There were several important items left, even though legal sports betting advocates are glad to see a shift to the in-state college wager policy, albeit minimal. from the gambling budget.

Everything about online gambling is included in the act, which isn’t surprising given how the process has developed over the past few weeks.

A few weeks ago, lawmakers filed a bill seeking a report into how much revenue online casino gaming would have generated had it been legal prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The deadline for the report on Oct. 1, 2021, is a clear signal that Illinois online casino wasn’t happening this session.

The in-person sports betting registration requirement is also not addressed in this bill. If anything, Illinois lawmakers are doubling downon in-person betting, as they’ve also tied it to in-state college wagering.

Hence, it would seem that in-person registration will continue at least through early 2022. When the IGB can issue a mobile-only license, that & rsquo would result in online sign-ups for everyone.

Of course, that depends on someone requesting a mobile-only license, which is not guaranteed given that they earn$ 20 million per month.

supporters and opponents of in-state school bets in Illinois

State Rep. Michael J. Zalewski (pictured) led the charge to legalize in-state college betting in IL. His initial proposal would have included online wagering as well, but that bill died during the session.

After receiving a Gov. Pritzker personal, Illinois bettors will be able to play on state college games when they wake up in about 5 hours.

It & rsquo will only be available in person, at a racetrack, casino, or OTB.

I’m ready for your heat, @JoeO670.

Hello and good day.

— Michael J. Zalewski (@mjzalewski) June 1, 2021

State Rep. Jonathan Carroll was also a leading proponent of the legislation, as he co-sponsored Zalewski’s original bill and offered support for legalization at an April House Executive Committee Hearing.

Who then opposed legitimate in-state school bets in Illinois? most importantly, the sport managers of Division I universities.

Josh Whitman, the chairman of Illinois Athletics, testified on behalf of all 13 D1 athletic executives at that reading.

Here & rsquo, a passage from:

They ( student athletes ) are preoccupied with their phones, and most of the time, what they say about people they’ve never met on social media serves as the foundation for their own ideas or self-images. And that & rsquo is a battle we engage in every day in today’s college sports. We & rsquo, by allowing people in our state to wager on our own student athletes, is only opening the door and inviting people to engage in those intense, threatening, and abusive interactions with our student-athletes, which is something that I and my colleagues vehemently oppose. & rdquo,

In the end, it appears that there will be a bargain for the time being and an actual opportunity for website in-state college sports gambling in the future.