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Online sports betting signups return after new Pritzker EO

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Online sports betting is back in Illinois.

In a surprise Friday afternoon news drop, Governor J.B. Pritzker has re-signed an executive order, allowing users in Illinois to sign-up for sports betting accounts and place wagers without having to visit a casino in person.

DraftKings and BetRivers are the two sportsbooks that are live with online registration. The Action Network has confirmed you can place a bet at DraftKings in Illinois without having to go into a casino.

The new EO is here.

* Vegas Slots Online…

During the height of the pandemic, casinos were shut across the state, meaning that bettors could not physically visit such facilities to set up an online sports wagering account. As a result, remote registration was allowed from June 4 until it was brought to an end by the governor on July 26.

The Sports Wagering Act that was signed by Gov. Pritzker in July 2019 states that players have to register in-person for an online sports betting account during the first 18 months of the legal market being live.

Having launched its online sports betting offering in Illinois early August, DraftKings looks set to take advantage of the return of remote registration. It has since announced on Twitter that it is now accepting remote registrations from the state’s residents

* IGB…

While in-person registration would have significantly benefited online sportsbooks partnered with physical outlets in the Chicago metropolitan area, such as PointsBet, others including DraftKings, in more remote locations, faced having access to customers significantly reduced.

However, at a time when rising numbers of Covid-19 cases have prompted new restrictions on opening hours in the Metro East region of Illinois – covering DraftKings’ sportsbook at Casino Queen in the Greater St. Louis area – players will once again be able to register online.

The state’s sports betting market went live on 9 March, days before Covid-19 shut down sporting events around the world.

Per the Sports Wagering Act signed into law by Pritzker in July 2019, licensees must have players register in-person for the first 18 months of operation.

* Legal Sports Report…

• Rivers Casino outside of Chicago was one of the forces behind the in-person requirement in Illinois law, but will still try to take advantage of remote registration.
• PointsBet was hoping physical sportsbooks near Chicago would help its early push, but that advantage could have gone up in smoke if the order stays in place for any amount of time.
• FanDuel has plans to launch its online sportsbook in Illinois, but the timeline for that wasn’t clear. This may quicken the company’s pace.
• Hollywood Casino sportsbooks have launched, but an online version branded for Barstool Sports isn’t expected until Q1 of 2021.

…Adding… From Jordan Abudayyeh…

As the state imposes stricter mitigations to combat the spread of COVID-19, the administration has reinstituted online sports betting through the Governor’s emergency powers. Increased mitigation measures are impacting the capacity limits and hours of operation at casinos in regions seeing higher rates of the virus and online sports betting allows for an even playing field across the industry.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 12:17 pm

Comments

I never understood the in-person registration requirement, it never made sense (unless JB was just trying to keep Neil Bluhm happy). Everything about this rule, including the Friday afternoon reversal news dump, was very strange.

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 12:47 pm
I learned about this through a helpful email Friday night from Bet Rivers mere hours after it was issued

LHM - I think protecting Neil Bluhm’s interests were the entire reason. They were the ones pushing it.

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 12:51 pm
===protecting Neil Bluhm’s interests===

I dunno. The governor and Bluhm aren’t exactly best buds.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 12:56 pm
Some pretty good bonus deals to take advantage of if you like to bet sports.

Comment by Chicagonk Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 1:37 pm
== I never understood the in-person registration requirement, it never made sense ==

Agreed, but it’s not a gaming board rule, it’s in the actual law. It’s a stupid law (the so-called “penalty box”) but a law nonetheless. JB has unilaterally suspended the law twice through COVID-related emergency orders, which does not make Neil Bluhm happy.

This is a huge boon to DraftKings, which has mysteriously been advertising their sports betting app like crazy on Chicago television and radio for weeks. It’s mysterious because the only way Chicagoans could get the DraftKings betting app before JB’s emergency order Friday was to drive five hours to the Casino Queen in East St. Louis and register in-person for it, bypassing the short trip to Chicago area casinos. (Makes you go hmmmm…)

Maybe the new emergency order makes sense from a pandemic standpoint, but if it’s too dangerous right now to walk into the Casino Queen to register for a sports waging account in-person, why is it okay to enter the Casino Queen and sit around a blackjack table, roll dice, or play slots?

Comment by Telly Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 1:51 pm
Daily double on vice revenue - legal weed and now betting from your couch.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 1:56 pm
== I think protecting Neil Bluhm’s interests were the entire reason.==

I doubt it, like Rich said they supposedly aren’t real close. I meant it more in the way of keeping Bluhm quiet and off his back. Or maybe JB is friends with Greg Carlin? I dunno, like I said the requirement never made any sense to me.

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 2:00 pm
Also Draftking’s CEO Jason Robins isn’t a fan of Rush Street Gaming based on his latest tweet.

Comment by Chicagonk Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 2:49 pm
=== ===protecting Neil Bluhm’s interests===
I dunno. The governor and Bluhm aren’t exactly best buds.====
The Gov office was involved in the crafting of the gaming bill but this issue was negotiated in many many legislative meetings. And Bluhm lobbied up even more than he already had on this issue.
Also the race tracks were pushing for it also. And this part of the law was actually a compromise with Draft Kong’s and Fan Duel. There was a push to penalize those firms for what some say was illegal betting through fantasy betting. The purpose of this was to allow the existing casinos and race tracks to try and capture some customers before allowing those two companies to go directly to their databases which number in the hundreds of thousands. Once people have money in their online accounts they tend to stick with them.

Comment by Been There Monday, Aug 24, 20 @ 3:09 pm