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eSports And Other Issues Considered For Illinois Sports Betting

Daniel Borjas — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 14:42:54 +0000

A hearing was held on Thursday to discuss sports betting in Illinois.
Lawmakers added amendments to IL HB 3308.
The sports betting rules in Illinois is slowly taking shape.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A House subcommittee held a hearing on Thursday to discuss what sports betting should look like in Illinois.

The Illinois State House Sales, Amusement, and Other Taxes Subcommittee began discussions on IL HB 3308 to fill it with sports betting language. The bill is a shell bill that originally had no real text and the subcommittee met to amend the bill with sports betting language. There were a couple of different amendments that were debated during this hearing.

Push For Remote Mobile Registration

One of the amendments that were considered is what Illinois is going to do about online and mobile sports betting. Governor J. B. Pritzker has a goal of $200 million to be generated from sports betting in his 2020 budget proposal. To reach that goal, lawmakers believe that mobile sports betting is necessary.

To help boost mobile sports betting, lawmakers from Illinois are thinking about doing what New Jersey is doing and allow people to register for their accounts remotely. The vice president of Sportradar Jake Williams was at the hearing, and he advocated for remote registration.

“If this is a recreational product, you shouldn’t require that people drive out to a specific location just to place a sports bet or register. Give [retail operators] the opportunity to expand their footprint by giving them the capability to do this in a mobile environment,” said Williams.

This has been proven to work. Over 80 percent of the sports bettors in New Jersey use their mobile device to place their bets. This means that a large percentage of sports betting taxes collected came from mobile bets. Lawmakers heard this argument and agree if they do not have a proper online market, sports betting will not do well in Illinois.

eSports Betting Could Happen

One of the fastest growing industries right now is eSports. More video game competitions between teams or individuals are being played with millions of dollars on the line. Lawmakers are now considering allowing people to bet on eSports.

The reason for this to be considered is that world-famous Fortnite player, Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, is from Illinois. Business Insider reported that Ninja makes $6 million a year due to how popular he and the game is. Lawmakers are looking to use the popularity of eSports has with Millennials to boost sports betting revenue.

Some lawmakers are apprehensive to add eSports to the sports betting bill. The reason is that the lawmakers simply do not understand what eSports really is. Stakeholder said that eSports will be much easier to monitor because of developer data, so eSports betting could be coming.

The Question About Collegiate Betting

Betting on college game is always a hot-button issue when discussions about it are brought up. That being said, the universities in Illinois are completely against it. Like the other universities around the country, they are worried that college athletes could be bribed to fixing a game.

However, the universities do understand that it is a strong possibility that college sports betting could happen. The universities did come up with a list of provisions to be added if lawmakers allow college betting. Some of the provisions include not being allowed to bet on college teams from the state or making sure that the minimum sports betting age is high enough to some gamblers who are students from betting on the games.

This was only the second hearing that was held for sports betting in Illinois. What started as an empty shell bill now has amendments to help dictate what sports betting will look like in the state. Not everything discussed was added to the bill, but they are now being considered for future hearings.

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Lawmakers Consider Four Different Avenues To Achieve Sports Betting In Illinois

Hasan Nabulsi — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 18:19:59 +0000

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has already included sports betting as part of his budget proposal, which he announced on February 20, 2019.
Some of the Illinois sports betting models are based on the ones from other states with legal sports wagering such as New Jersey, Mississippi, and Rhode Island.
Hearings for sports betting in Illinois will continue later this month, the legislative session will end May 31.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill – There is no doubt that sports betting in Illinois is expected to be quite profitable. Last Thursday, Illinois lawmakers underwent a three-hour long hearing in order to understand just how profitable it can be and how shares of the activity would be divided.

The hearing was held within the House Revenue and Finance Committee and the bill that was discussed was IL HB 3308, which is sponsored by Michael J. Zalewski.

Among the committee members were also representatives of interested parties including those involved in Illinois casinos, professional sports leagues, video lottery terminals, and horse racing tracks across the state.

The approaches to legalizing sports betting came in the form of four possible amendments to Zalewski’s bill. Each one takes a unique approach and with each option, there are winners and losers in the sports betting industry.

The first possibility is the New Jersey model. The state would set a $10 million-dollar initial fee to brick-and-mortar locations such as riverboats, horse racing tracks, and casinos. They would have to pay $250,000 each year to renew their license.

On top of those fees, they would be allowed two skins for mobile wagering companies to partner with them. Mobile and online wagering would cost $1 million dollars initially $500,000 every five years. The tax rate would be 15% for land-based betting and 20% for mobile.

The Mississippi model is much the same with two key difference. Under the Mississippi model, mobile sports betting in Illinois would be limited to on-site locations and the apps would be geo-fenced to the locations of license holders such as racetracks.

This model also features a 20% royalty on the handle to be given to the professional sports leagues that sports bettors in Illinois wager on. This fee is taken more rigorously in the third approach.

Under the professional sports league’s amendment, there would 25% royalty on the handle along with limiting sports betting to take place at the professional sports venues within the state of Illinois.

The last approach would be more geared towards the Rhode Island model which puts the Illinois Lottery in charge of regulating and operating sports gambling and sets a 50% tax on sports wagering revenue. This approach would give the lottery total control of the industry.

After the hearing committee members could agree on the initial 10-million-dollar fee set by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. However, they still remained weary on the idea of mobile or online sports wagering as well as paying a fee to sports leagues.

No final decisions on the bill for sports betting in Illinois were made last week. Instead, it was referred to the Rules Committee for review. The bill is set to be heard by them later this month, where Zaleski and other interested sports betting parties are hoping to gain clarity into the state’s direction.

The post Lawmakers Consider Four Different Avenues To Achieve Sports Betting In Illinois first appeared on SportsBettingInIllinois.com.

Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker Wants Sports Betting By Next Year

Michael Molter — Thu, 21 Feb 2019 18:15:52 +0000

After five weeks on the job, Governor J. B. Pritzker has made it clear – bring legal sports betting to Illinois this year.

Pritzker released his FY 2020 budget on Wednesday, which accounts for over $200 million from sports betting. This number was estimated by the cost of licensing fees, renewal fees, and the 20% tax on sportsbooks’ revenue.

Pritzker set out his plans for the industry in the budget proposal, which include:

Mobile wagering and land-based sportsbooks
Up to 20 licenses available at a cost of $10 million each
An annual interactive license renewal fee of $5,000
The State Gaming Fund receiving the 20% tax revenue

Oxford Economics estimated that Illinois could generate between $384 and $680 million in sports betting revenue per year. A 20% tax rate would bring in anywhere from $75 to $140 million a year.

Many legislators are on board with implementing Pritzker’s plan; however, others suggest the numbers will be skewed.

“Both parties have been guilty of overestimating new revenues,” Senator Sue Rezin (R-Morris) said.

The “overestimation” of $217 million in the state budget would receive the majority of the contributions from the $10 million licensing fees and 20% revenue. The 20% revenue is the second highest tax rate in the country behind Pennsylvania, who also have the same cost for a license.

Representative Mike Zalewski (D-Riverside) explained that the license structure and tax rate will be discussed before a final bill is voted on.

“I think the tax rate specifically is very much pliable,” Zalewski said. “I think there are areas where the governor is looking for legislative guidance.”

Senate legislators are also considering a bill that former NFL player and Senator Napoleon Harris III (D-Harvey) introduced. His proposal, Senate Bill 0176,was assigned to the Executive Committee last week.

“I am calling on the legislature to take this up immediately,” Pritzker said. “Every day we argue about ‘who’s in and who’s out’ is money that goes to other states and to the black market.”

Pritzker will likely get his wish for sports betting in Illinois, as the Democratic Governor has the backing in both the House and Senate. The Democrats control nearly two-thirds of the seats in the legislature.

The post Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker Wants Sports Betting By Next Year first appeared on SportsBettingInIllinois.com.

Illinois Special Session Stalling On iGaming, DFS Bill

Sierra Kennedy — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 18:13:35 +0000

Governor Calls Special Session, Illinois Legislation Still Dragging Feet On Several Issues, Including iGaming

During this year’s legislative session, the Senate was able to pass a bill that legalized online gambling and Daily Fantasy Sports at the last moment. The bill was delivered to the House but appeared dead in the water as the legislative bodies adjourned for the year. But thanks to Governor Bruce Rauner, a special session was convened because Illinois has yet to approve a budget. During this special session, House Committee members met to discuss whether action should be taken on the new bill.

The bill, HB 479, is sponsored by Representative Michael Zalewski and Senators Kwame Raoul, Dave Syverson, Steve Stadelman, Pat McGuire, and Napoleon Harris. The Senate passed the bill 42-10 during the regular session, and HB 479 was delivered to the House Executive Committee.

It is this committee which is reviewing the future of online gambling in the state. The bill proposes to license and regulate online casinos and Daily Fantasy Sports sites under the Illinois Gaming Board. Licenses would cost a flat $10 million, with a 15% tax on revenue bringing in regular funds to the state.

If the bill is passed and sent to the Governor’s desk, an influx of as much as $300 million in revenue can be expected for Illinois’ economy.

While legislators in Illinois have been flirting with the idea of legalized DFS for some time now, they really haven’t been talking about iGaming at all. Which is why it seems like the push for online gambling in the state is coming out of left field. The Chicago Tribune touched on the topic, noting that it was probably more of a strategic move than anything else. “Including internet games was a move designed to bring on board casino operators, who view fantasy sports as competition but have long wanted to break into the online gambling space,” writes Tribune Staff Writer Kim Geiger.

Unfortunately, the bill seems to be a low priority for lawmakers, as they pushed the hearing back three times before finally hearing testimony from Poker Players’ Alliance and others. The Committee adjourned without taking any action. While the bill does have until the end of the week (June 30th) to be voted on during this Special Session, it looks as though it’s going to be passed up yet again.

“We’re just going to continue to try to work through things and see what happens,” said Representative Zalewski. “I think the pressure is light, but we want to keep it in the conversation.”

Most of Illinois’ reluctance to vote on this measure stems from its inability to pass a budget. Legalizing iGaming, as well as DFS in the state, would create hundreds of millions in economic relief, but that thought apparently hasn’t crossed the legislators’ minds. Until such a time as the legislation comes to its senses, residents will have to just wait and see. DFS can still be accessed through DraftKings and FanDuel, and sports betting in Illinois can continue through the use of legal sports betting sites that are located overseas.

The post Illinois Special Session Stalling On iGaming, DFS Bill first appeared on SportsBettingInIllinois.com.

Last-Minute Push For Legalized Fantasy Sports In Illinois

Sierra Kennedy — Sun, 07 May 2017 18:11:23 +0000

After the topic of daily fantasy sports was kept under lock and key during the majority of the General Assembly’s session, it caught many lawmakers by surprise when three DFS bills were brought to the table just two days before its scheduled recess.

Read The Legislation

IL SB 208 would legalize online gambling in the state along with daily fantasy sports. Players over 21 would be permitted to join DFS sites. Illinois casino operators would be required to pay a $10 million licensing fee should they want to offer online gambling, and there would be a flat 15% tax rate on gaming revenue.

Read The Legislation

IL SB 1805 amends the Riverboat Gambling Act while IL SB 1667 amends the Title Insurance Act. Both of these amendments include daily fantasy sports regulations and would put the Illinois Gaming Board in charge of overseeing DFS. The two bills have already passed the House Rules Committee and are working their way through the House Executive Committee.

Why The Sudden Push For Online Gambling & DFS?

The issue of daily fantasy sports is nothing new to the state of Illinois. In 2015, Representative Michael Zalewski began to advocate for DFS in the state. Shortly after, State Attorney General Lisa Madigan told DFS companies FanDuel and DraftKings that they would have to stop accepting Illinois players unless the legislator legalized daily fantasy contests. The duo disputed the warning in court, but have since remained in the Illinois market. This ongoing legal battle is likely one of the reasons behind the proposed pieces of legislation.

Rivers Casino has also been vocal about their opposition to regulating DFS, but have huge proponents of legalizing online gambling within Illinois. Rivers has supported recent legalization efforts in PA and is already licensed for online gaming in New Jersey. Paul Gaynor, of parent company Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, had the following to say regarding the bills currently working their way through the House.

“We support a strong comprehensive internet gaming bill — not piecemeal — that would allow for numerous games to be fairly and safely played online, while providing significant tax revenue for the state.”

Judging from Gaynor and the overall attitude represented by Illinois Casino Gaming Association, the proposed bills could be seen as a way to meet in the middle. By giving the industry the legalized online gambling that they seek, it could possibly soften their stance on daily fantasy sports.

"There was controversy last year as to why are we regulating daily fantasy sports activity, which is ongoing in the state, and not regulating internet gaming, which is also occurring," said Senator Kwame Raoul. "So what this bill attempts to do is also regulate and bring licensure and supervision of internet gaming under the jurisdiction of the Gaming Board.”

The DFS Outlook In Illinois

The state has been down this road before, with a prior DFS bill failing in 2016. There is no clear indication yet as to whether or not any of the bills will continue to move forward, but with 2 million players from Illinois already participating in fantasy sports contests - per the Fantasy Sports Trade Association - it seems that residents will be able to enjoy sports betting in Illinois no matter which way the coin flips.

The post Last-Minute Push For Legalized Fantasy Sports In Illinois first appeared on SportsBettingInIllinois.com.

New Progress In Legalized Sports Betting

Dillon Appleman — Tue, 02 May 2017 18:08:30 +0000

The American Gaming Association have announced a new policy that could help with the legalization of regulated sports gambling in the United States. This process has been going on for years now and while PASPA only allows sports betting in Nevada, the AGA is working their hardest to change that fact. In fact, the board of directors for the AGA have put together an outline of what their approach will be in this fight to legalize sports betting and have agreed to a list of public policy principles that read as follows:

Defer to states regarding the desirability of regulating sports betting as all forms of casino wagering;
Ensure the integrity of sports betting and sports through state licensing and regulation;
Make all sports betting businesses transparent to law enforcement;
Ensure a tax regime does not undermine regulated sports betting operations’ ability to compete against illegal offshore operators.

These policies are the first step of many to finally getting rid of the outdated federal ban on sports betting that is the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). Geoff Freeman, the president and CEO of the American Gaming Association said that “The stars are aligning to finally repeal this failing law. At a time when Washington remains deeply divided, sports betting has the support of Americans of all political stripes,” he went on to say “Legal, regulated sports betting will enhance fan engagement and entertainment, empower law enforcement and strengthen the integrity of every game. Everyone wins.”

When Can We Expect Legal Sports Betting?

Freeman has announced an actual timeframe as to when we can expect legalized sports betting in the United States. When speaking with Fox News, Freeman told them that he expects the legalization to happen by the end of Donald Trump’s first term as president, which would be in the year 2020. Some things that could expedite that process is a win in the New Jersey sports betting case that is currently being appealed in the US Supreme Court. Also, if more states begin passing laws, like New Jersey, that challenge PASPA, then we could see swift change that may even lead to congress amending or repealing PASPA.

State Or Federal Regulations?

The AGA’s policy points to them wanting states to control their own sports betting regulations but major sports leagues that support the legalization of sports gambling would prefer that it be done at the federal level. Specifically, the NBA and MLB Commissioners Adam Silver and Rob Manfred have supported the movement for sports gambling for a while now but would prefer it be controlled by the federal government. Either way, the movement is real or change is happening whether you like it or not. It’s time for this country to take a step in the right direction in terms of sports gambling and getting rid of PASPA and regulating the activity across the country is the way to do it.

Although this initially sounds like great news, a moment for reflection will reveal a problem. Even though sports betting in Illinois is legal, if it's illegal to facilitate gambling how will anyone ever take advantage of that fact? That does indeed pose a bit of a catch 22. Since hosting any sports betting is illegal, any land based sportsbooks you find in Illinois will be illegally run operations. Aside from putting you at personal risk by association with enterprises that operate outside of the law, these are certainly risky places to trust with your money and will not come to you as verified and trustworthy.

Legal Online Sports Betting in Illinois:

Barring an expensive plane ticket to Las Vegas, Illinois residents may fall into the trap of coming to believe that there may be no safe, legal means of betting on sports. Luckily, it would not be correct to think so. There are many great online sportsbooks suited to the needs of American clients that can provide a great way of fulfilling all your gambling wants. By being based out of the country, these sites work around the state laws that prohibit sports wagering facilitation in Illinois, and through years of service and a great customer satisfaction rating, they can be verified as a safe place to deposit money to bet with.

Bovada Sportsbook - Widest Selection Of Betting Odds Of Any Sportsbook

If you want to start placing your bets online but find your head spinning from all the different options out there to work with, the Bovada online sportsbook is a great place to start for Illinois residents. Through many years of providing quality service to account holders from Illinois, the name Bovada has become synonymous with legitimacy in regards to online gambling. Not only does it come endorsed by media outlets like FOX sports and ESPN, but it boasts a decorated track record of five star customer reviews and unparalleled service. Bovada's devotion to their client base doesn't stop at merely providing a quality outlet for legal, legitimate gambling, however. Bovada goes the extra step to ensure that their customers feel welcomed and valued by greeting new users with an excellent sign-up bonus by matching 50% of your first deposit. Using this offer, new bettors in Illinois can be gifted up to $250 in free play to be used anywhere in Bovada's sportsbook. Now betting with Bovada is looking like a much better value than that flight out to Vegas.

PLAY TODAY!

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The NBA’s Deal With PlayOn – PlayOn Deal With The NBA

Dillon Appleman — Tue, 02 May 2017 18:05:28 +0000

PlayOn is a Dublin, Ireland, and London, England-based company that will now be the league's primary daily fantasy sports partner in countries across Latin America, Asia, and Europe. PlayOn already had a deal with the PGA European Tour and this move only legitimizes them even more.

The NBA was represented by the league's Presidents of global partnerships, Salvatore LaRocca who explained the importance of this partnership by saying “With basketball’s global appeal, we are always looking for new ways to bring authentic NBA experiences to our fans across the world,” he then went on to say “Our partnership with PlayOn provides us an opportunity to deepen our engagement with our international audience, and bring these fans closer to the game.”

The chief executive and founder of PlayOn, Killian Jones, expressed his excitement as well saying “PlayOn is delighted to be partnering with the NBA to deliver Official Daily Fantasy NBA Games...The NBA’s global reach and daily fixture schedule make it an ideal fit for daily fantasy. We look forward to working closely with the NBA to deliver innovative sports entertainment experiences to basketball fans around the world.”

Countries Included IN NBA/PlayOn Deal

France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, Japan, and the Philippines. After obtaining their license to do so, PlayOn can now provide paid-entry contests to players in Ireland, Australia, and the UK but does not offer these contests in the United States. As far as their free gaming options, they will be specifically tailored to appease local players and will be offered in select languages.

Why The NBA Didn’t Choose FanDuel

The NBA has equity in FanDuel and they’ve been partners for a couple of years now so why did the NBA go with PlayOn instead of FanDuel? Well, first of all, it’s worth noting that the new deal with PlayOn doesn’t affect the FanDuel deal in any way. That being said, FanDuel already offers free-to-play games for the NA in the United States, so it seems only logical to extend that deal to other countries. The key point here is that PlayOn already provides international players with international sports such as rugby league, cricket, club league soccer and more. This gives them an advantage over FanDuel because they have already developed a name for themselves across 100 countries as opposed to FanDuel’s almost entirely American player support (have begun expanding in the UK and Germany).

What This Deal Means

The NBA’s new partnership with PlayOn is just the latest indicator of how invested the National Basketball Association is in the future of daily fantasy sports and sports betting in Illinois. This shows that they want to broaden the market, and will promote it in the US and abroad.

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