Illinois is 1 step away from legal sports betting after a last-ditch effort by Rep. Bob Rita fell into place that weekend.
House lawmakers voted to approve a broad expansion of gambling within a funding funding bill on Saturday, and the Senate followed suit on Sunday. Gaming provisions within the act comprise a long-awaited casino in Chicago and consent for both retail and online sports gambling.
The bill goes to the desk of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, whose recent comments make it clear he will sign it into law. The governor helped shepherd IL sports betting across the end line, seeking to drive over $200 million in additional revenue to his nation.
Passage was, frankly, a remarkable feat taking into consideration the absence of advancement through the first five weeks of this year. Previous proposals from Rep. Mike Zalewski were all turned aside, and also a perceived conflict of interest forced him to step back at the last days of session.
LSR continues to be keeping a close watch on the chatter this weekend and upgrading this webpage as the situation unfolded. Here is the play-by-play:
Is Sunday the day for Illinois sports betting?
The Senate finally takes the floor after 4 p.m. local time. It doesn’t take long.
Sen. Terry Link presents the conditions of this amended bill, which includes a total projected financial effect of $12 billion. Commendations and favorable comments from Sen. Dave Syverson, the Senate Minority Leader, appear to indicate that passing is a certainty.
Comments are brief and largely surface-level, with a few lawmakers poking around at narrow provisions that affect their components. Sen. John Curran is the only one who speaks to sports gambling at any length, seeking clarification on the branding provisions for internet platforms.
Link is psychological as he shuts the proceedings, representing on his 20-year effort to improve economic growth from manufacturing.
The room applauds as the board lights up green, and also the Senate concurs with the House changes by a 46-10 vote. Just like that, the bill that will legalize sports gambling in Illinois is headed to the governor.
IL sports gambling bill as amended
Here’s the full text of the language:
What is in the amendment?
The new vertical financing bill includes a multi-level gaming package headlined by a mega-casino at Chicago. The step also offers six categories of licensure for IL sports betting:
Master sports wagering
Occupational
Supplier
Management services provider Tier 2 official league data supplier Central system provider In stark terms, these classes allow casinos, race tracks, and sports sites to offer sports betting — equally in-person and on the internet. The provisions that concern online betting, however, require in-person enrollment for the first 18 months.
The amendment also authorizes a lottery execution encompassing 2,500 places in the very first year.
IL sports betting details
The fee for a master sports betting license is calculated based on gross gaming revenue from the last year. Casinos will pay 5 percent of the number to provide sports gambling for four yearsup to a max of $10 million. That cap was not present in recent models and should ease the burden on large operators such as Rush Street Gaming. Rita also softened the projected tax rate down to 15 percent of earnings.
As you can infer from the classes, language mandating using official league data for props and in-play gambling stuck. While there’s no ethics fee, the invoice does empower schools and sports leagues to restrict the types of accessible wagers. As composed, weatherproof collegiate sports are completely off the board in Illinois.
The change removes the total blackout period for online gambling that snuck to an earlier version, but it will keep a modified penalty box for DraftKings and FanDuel. Daily fantasy sports businesses will be allowed to compete at the sport betting arena, but only master licensees can provide online wagering for the first 18 months.
The amendment also creates three online-only licenses costing $20 million apiece, awarded on a delay via a competitive procedure.
Saturday: Agreement reached for IL sports gambling About three hours into the weekend semester, we’re still in a holding pattern. House lawmakers have ticked several more items off their to-do list now, such as a bill that raises the minimum wages for Illinois teachers. For the time being, however, there’s nothing new to report online sports gambling.
Aside from the things we are already touched on, a couple other hurdles have cropped up.
Perhaps most notably, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot publicly opposes the bill as written. Her main concern is that the provision allowing sportsbooks inside of stadiums and arenas.
Mayoral opposition leads to’understanding’
Here is the announcement from Mayor Lightfoot, as mentioned by Capitol Fax:
“I firmly support a gaming bill that sends a new casino and dollars to the city of Chicago. However, I oppose the addition of a provision that could open up sports wagering in areas like Soldier Field. This type of proposal has the capacity to undermine the viability of any Chicago-based casino via the diversion of consumers and revenue from a casino. Because the effect of sports wagering in stadiums hasn’t been fully assessed or analyzed, I cannot support the bill in its present form and urge the deletion of the stadium-betting provision”
On Saturday, however, the government releases a followup announcement indicating that the conversation is moving ahead:
“I’ve spoken to Mayor Lightfoot about her issues with respect to sports betting, and we’ve collaboratively worked with the bill sponsors to make clear that the legislative intent will reflect that there are limitations on both the amount of and places for sports betting venues. I am happy that we have reached this understanding…”
Mayor Lightfoot then drops her opposition via a different statement:
“After productive discussions with the Governor, we’ve agreed to permit a limited quantity of betting at sports venues subject to local control and oversight. These improvements to the gaming proposal will permit us to maximize earnings capabilities of a new casino to the Town of Chicago and ensure a fantastic quality of life for our areas which may otherwise be affected. As such, I recommend the passage of SB 690 as amended…”
Illinois House votes yes on sports gambling After a break for committee meetings and caucuses, Rep Bob Rita files a last amendment to the funding package. The sport betting language appears mostly unchanged at a glance, though there are a great deal of words to get through. The bill is called for second reading about 6 p.m. local time and moved straight to third.
By that point, it’s apparent that House lawmakers have reached an agreement to pass quite a few large bills — such as this one — until the end of the night. The floor demonstration becomes something of a victory lap for Rita, with different members commending him for his wide efforts to shore up vertical infrastructure. In his final, Rita thanks Rep. Mike Zalewski for his job.
The House votes 87-27 in favor of passage, sending the bill back to the room of origin for concurrence. The Senate matches Sunday at 3 p.m.
Friday: Last gasp for IL sports betting prospects
Friday was frantic in the state capitol, with an assortment of important issues to hammer on the last day of the scheduled session. Lawmakers did make a dent in the pile of invoices, but leaders were forced to issue a bad-news bulletin stretching the work week during Sunday.
Although sports betting remains unresolved, a significant effort has materialized.
Rep. Robert Rita grabbed the reins on Friday, borrowing from the framework of Rep. Mike Zalewski to cobble together a compromise bill. His effort ran from daylight on the House floor, however, the bonus weekend of lawmaking means there is still hope for sports gambling this season.
While there’s a momentum, failure to cast a vote Friday makes the job a little bit taller. Any bills considered from here on out demand a 3/5ths supermajority to passa brink which may simply be out of reach.
Here’s a chronological timeline of the day’s events:
A new automobile for IL sports betting Lawmakers start the day behind closed doors, working to finalize the framework for IL sports gambling. Most assume S 516 will function as the car, a Chicago casino bill that appears to be an appropriate target for the empowering language. A midday curveball, however, shifts the attention.
Joe Ostrowski is a Chicago radio anchor who has had his ear to the ground nowadays, and he is the first to show that everybody is looking in the incorrect location.
Joe Ostrowski
???
@JoeO670
Some optimism in Springfield for sport gambling.
SB 690 should drop very soon.
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7:22 PM – May 31, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy Watch Joe Ostrowski’s additional Tweets
The invoice he cites (S 690) isn’t a gambling bill, but a measure amending tax provisions at the Invest in Kids Act. The current version has already cleared the Senate and awaits a floor vote at the lower room. Suddenly, some anticipate House lawmakers to file a new amendment linked to sports gambling.
Sure enough, a placeholder pops upon the docket, with a hearing at the House Executive committee scheduled for 1:30 p.m. local time. A change of sponsor to Sen. Terry Link provides another indication that something is about to happen.
LSR sources indicate that there is excellent reason to monitor the conversation all the way up until the last gavel.
Senate Appropriations committee hearing
Sen. Link presents the amended bill to the committee, and… boy, is there a lot in it.
In addition to the gambling provisions, it also touches on taxes for cigarettes, parking, video lottery terminals, and a number of other mechanisms to boost state revenue. The total fiscal impact is close to $1 billion, with sports gambling representing only a very small component of the package.
It is the quickest of hearings, over in less than five minutes. One member asks whether or not the bill raises the amount of slot machines for each casino licensee — it will — and that is about it.
House Executive committee hearing
A heated floor debate on a marijuana bill (which finally passed) delays the House hearing by several hours.
After the committee eventually convenes, Rep. Mike Zalewski is a surprise addition to the dais at the front of the room. Even though the long-suffering proponent of IL sports gambling recently stepped back from the spotlight, Rita’s bill still lists him as the primary House sponsor. The committee substitutes Zalewski in as a temporary member to cast a vote in favour of passing.
Without much lead time, the amendment brings 34 proponents and nine competitions (which later grows to 18). Casino groups including Boyd Gaming, Penn National Gaming, and also the Illinois Casino Association remain opposed to the final language.
Members of the committee have plenty of questions, but the majority of the conversation centers about gambling terms not related to sports gambling. Rita struggles to describe some of the finer points in detail, especially as they relate to DraftKings and FanDuel. It’s complex.
The language allows online platforms, but online-only companies can not find licensure for the initial 18 weeks of IL sports betting. The host suggests he constructed his bill that way to”provide Illinois companies a ramp” into the new sector. Rita also notes that his amendment will not affect the present status quo for DFS.
The committee advocates adoption of the amendment with an 8-5 vote, advancing the bill to the ground. There is still a great deal of work left to do prior to adjournment, equally on sports gambling and on many of critical issues — including the state funding.
Formerly, in Illinois sports gambling…
This year’s attempt to legalize sports gambling follows in the footsteps of the failed 2018 effort.
As it did last year, work began early in 2019. Lawmakers cobbled together many different possible frameworks, each catering to a particular set of stakeholders. Once again, however, nothing broadly palatable had emerged since the past few hours of session ticked off the clock.
The proposed funding from Gov. J.B. Pritzker includes $217 million in revenue from sports betting, so there is more at stake than just the liberty to bet. Failure would force Illinois to observe from the sidelines while its neighbors at Indiana and Iowa activate their new legislation.
Who can participate?
The concept of this”penalty box” is your biggest barrier to some passing at the moment.
To make a long story short, some casino groups are working to keep DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook out of the Illinois market. They argue that daily fantasy sports isn’t explicitly lawful in the country, and these so-called bad actors ought to be excluded from licensure for three decades. The real motivation is, of course, a desire to eliminate competition in the two companies running away together with the New Jersey sports gambling market.
DraftKings responded by temporarily running a tv campaign pushing back to the obstruction from Rush Street Gaming.
How much will it cost?
The sport leagues have also gained greater leverage with Illinois lawmakers than they have elsewhere in the nation.
Most previous proposals for IL sports betting required payment of a ethics fee and the use of official league information to settle”Tier 2″ wagers. No US sports betting law comprises an integrity fee, and Tennessee is the only one that has an info mandate.
Coupled with licensing fees topping out at $25 million and taxation amounting to 20 percent of revenue, these operational burdens may stand between the invoice and the finish line.
Who’s in charge?
Rep. Mike Zalewski carried the baton all spring, but a lack of advancement and also a perceived conflict of interest forced him to step aside in the 11th hour.
Start-of-day intel indicates that Rep. Bob Rita is actively working to material the allowing language in the broader gaming package before lawmakers head home for the year. In what could be seen as a reassuring sign, Senate Republican Leader Sen. Dave Syverson has signed on as a co-sponsor.
There is no warranty that bill moves, however, and perhaps it doesn’t include sports betting provisions even when it really does.
Matt Kredell contributed to this story.

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