Illinois Gaming Board Administrator Marcus Fruchter renewed seven sports betting licenses for retail sportsbooks Thursday, the first such renewals since in the state since operators began taking wagers in March 2020.
Fruchter, using the expanded powers delegated to him following the COVID-19 pandemic and since renewed on an annual basis, granted four-year license renewals through June 2028 to the following casinos: Argosy Casino Alton, DraftKings at Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Hollywood Casino Aurora, Hollywood Casino Joliet, Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, and Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino in East Peoria.
Retail sports betting has generated $1.12 billion in total handle in Illinois, including $105 million through the first three months of 2024. Operators have attained a collective 8.9% hold in 46 months of accepting wagers and claimed $99.5 million in adjusted gross sports betting revenue.
Illinois has 15 overall retail sports betting locations, with the DraftKings at Wrigley Field the most recent venue to open in March. In addition to 11 casino-based retail sportsbooks, three are located at off-track betting locations licensed to Hawthorne Race Course as permitted in the gaming expansion bill signed into law by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in June 2019 that legalized sports betting.
Betting on Illinois Schools No Longer Allowed
During his commentary period, Fruchter pointed out the Illinois General Assembly adjourned for the summer without a bill that created an extension to allow retail sportsbooks to allow Tier 1 wagers for games involving Illinois-based schools. As a result, the pre-game moneyline, point spread, and total wagers for such contests will be illegal as of July 1. The earliest such bets could be reinstalled would be via amendment during the veto session in the fall.
The wagers had been allowed for two-plus years, with the 2023 Iegislature passing it as part of an amendment written by Rep. Bob Rita attached to Senate Bill 0089. Tier 1 wagering for Illinois schools was originally passed during the 2021 veto session via HB 3136, which had an original sunset date of July 1, 2023, and was extended before last year’s General Assembly adjourned.
Former Rep. Jonathan Carroll introduced a bill in April 2023 that would have extended Tier 1 wagering to sports betting apps, but no one took up HB 4041 following his resignation from the lower chamber in January.
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Tier 1 retail wagering on college sports — the Illinois Gaming Board does not break out sport-specific wagering by professional and college sports — totaled $25 million through the first three months of 2024, up 20.4% from the same period last year and was boosted by Illinois advancing to the NCAA Tournament regional final before losing to eventual champion Connecticut.
The 155,348 Tier 1 retail wagers on college sports from January through March was up 15.7% compared to 2023.