Illinois Online Casino still a long time away

Categories: News | Published by: Landon Williams

03/09/2021

When Illinois passed a gaming expansion bill back in 2019, one major industry was missing from that package.

Online casino gambling was not included at that time, but there was some hope that it would be added eventually.

Online casino gambling has been a topic of discussion with lawmakers throughout 2020 and 2021, but there has been little progress made. Some legislators are now speaking out and have made it clear that this likely won’t happen until 2023 at the earliest.

Senator Dave Syverson is on the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, and he believes that online casino gaming might not be passed in 2023 either. Illinois is a state that is once again controlled by Democrats, but that party has been slow to approve this form of gaming.

There are a number of reasons that online casino gaming won’t pass in 2022, and the education of lawmakers is one of the main reasons. Some lawmakers are still considering the effects of legalizing this industry, and they aren’t easily convinced of the benefits.

A study was done to look at the benefits of online casino gaming, and that study has been shared with lawmakers in the state. There were many positives that were included in the report, but some lawmakers want to take a closer look.

2022 is also an election year in the state of Illinois, and lawmakers aren’t typically willing to pass controversial bills right before an election. That would mean that 2023 would be the next best chance, but there will also be a new group of lawmakers in place.

The launching of a Chicago casino is also high on the priority list in the state of Illinois, and this process has been extremely slow.

Mask Mandate Will Affect Retail Betting

With another surge in positive COVID-19 cases across the state of Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker once again issued an indoor mask mandate. This indoor mask mandate is in effect for both vaccinated and unvaccinated residents in the state.

This mask mandate affects all indoor public places, and that includes Illinois casinos and retail sportsbooks. It’s unclear just how much this will affect both industries over the next few weeks, but there is going to be an impact.

One positive for these retail betting locations is that the governor has not yet put capacity limits back in effect, as was the case for much of 2020. Those restrictions hurt the industry more than the mask mandate, but both have an effect.

Some have questioned whether or not this will lead to a return of the remote registration period that was offered at times throughout 2020 and into 2021. Governor Pritzker issued an executive order to provide a boost to the sports betting industry as retail locations were not seeing much action.

Pritzker has maintained that the remote registration option is over until some point in 2022, but that could change quickly. Online sportsbooks continue to push for remote registration to return, especially since the state has seen a drop in the overall numbers.

If you want to stay up to date on all sports betting in Illinois, then make sure you check back regularly on our news blog.