The pace of sports betting bill introductions in state assemblies has quickened from bass to snare drum with Illinois ing in on Tuesday night. Illinois Senate President Pro Tempore Don Harmon (D-39th district) filed SB2478, dubbed the Sports Betting Consumer Protection Act, basically outlining the state of sports betting in the United States to get the ball rolling. 1e701s
SB2478 follows the unveiling of bills in Massachusetts, National Basketball Association, which is a major development. Harmon’s bill actually follows Democratic state Representative Lou Lang’s mid-January conversation-starting House Bill 4214, dubbed the “Legalization and Regulation of Sports Betting Act.”
SB 2748 leaves a lot to the imagination, or more precisely, committee hearings and discussions with stakeholders. And there are some major stakeholders in Illinois’ gaming market.
Illinois Senator Don Harmon Introduces SB2478 to Move State Toward Legal Sports Betting Online and in Land-Based Casinos; Major Stakeholders Involved 3rew
Take a look at the bill’s opener, which covers about all you need to know at this point (plus what follows here):
The bill goes on to explain the status of the Supreme Court Sports Betting Case, aka Christie v. NCAA, in which and predictions) that the court will strike PASPA. Hence the drumbeat.
There are currently 10 commercial casinos (riverboats included) in Illinois, a pair of them — Harrah’s Joliet and Harrah’s Metropolis — owned by Caesars Entertainment. MGM’s has the Grand Victoria Casino Elgin, Penn National Gaming owns and operates Hollywood Casinos in Aurora and Joliet, and Boyd Gaming has Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino on the Illinois River.
The bill shows a clear focus on the mobile/online component for sports betting. That’s the future of sports betting. With major Nevada-based entities like MGM and Caesars there, it seems likely that the state would grant them sports betting licenses to open sportsbooks on land and through them on mobile, but the bill at this point leaves open the possibility of other tech companies, like DraftKings, getting involved.
It’s also unclear at this point which state agency would draft the rules and regulations for licensees; also there’s no tax rate mentioned in here, and bless their hearts, no 1% “integrity fee” benefiting the NBA and other leagues.
What is clear is that the bill would allow wagering on professional and collegiate sports and that there’s a strong desire to get Illinois positioned if the Supreme Court axes PASPA.
