The Illinois Gaming Board has issued emergency rules in order to begin the first phase of the state’s sports betting licensing process that will see sports bettors being one step closer to putting legitimate money down in Illinois.
State gambling regulators have released applications for casinos, racetracks and large stadiums that would like to open sportsbooks and making master sports wagering, management service provider, supplier, official league data supplier, management service provider and occupational licenses available.
Marcus Fruchter, the Illinois Gaming Board Administrator has, however, still declined to estimate when the industry might go live.
The sports wagering applications and a number of rules governing them were released almost six months after sports betting was legalized by Gov. J. B. Pritzker, as part of a huge gambling expansion that was passed in the spring.
According to Fruchter, his agency will be releasing a second phase of rules on operation procedures early in 2020 after which temporary permits will start being issued ‘in a timely manner’.
There are currently 10 existing casinos, three racetracks and up to seven 17,000-plus-capacity sports venues in the state that are eligible to apply for the $10 million sports wagering licenses.
In terms of the new gambling law, online-only sports websites such as FanDuel and DraftKings will be cut out of the initial action and will be required to wait for a period of 18 months before applying for one of three online-only sports betting licenses at a massive amount of $20 million a pop.
