How have the New Illinois Online Gambling Laws Changed?
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The PAPSA law was repealed in May 2019. It was passed in 1992 to ban sports betting at a federal level. Now states can legalise and regulate sports gambling at their own level, as in Illinois.
Illinois has legalised both in-person and remote sports betting for residents.
Illinois lawmakers pushed its legal sports betting bill (SB 960) through the state legislature on June 3rd, 2019. It was nine months later that the first legal bet was placed in Illinois at the Rush Street Interactive owned Rivers Casino. Brick-and-mortar casinos were concerned that their market share would be diminished. Virtual sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel responded by entering into partnerships with casinos and racetracks.
The Provision was created in June to coincide with the return of major sporting events. It was revoked in July and restarted in August. The Provision is likely to be in effect until a mobile-only operator is selected. DraftKings and FanDuel are angry about the status quo. They are not partnered with major casinos and betting organisations in Chicago. The in-person requirement may also be deterring certain demographics from acting on their interest in sports betting.
FanDuel and DraftKings have seen their business grow as a raft of US states have moved to fully legalise sports betting. The in-person mandate remains a punitive measure. Most of the time, the majority of players want mobile-only registration. This type of demand is likely to become irresistible over time. It's almost certain that mobile betting will reign supreme in the Illinois market.
