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The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) has granted a sports-betting license to bet365 to offer retail and mobile wagering though a partnership with Walker’s Bluff Casino, while keeping a temporary suspension on certain National Football League wagers in place until next year.
Marcus Fruchter, administrator with the IGB, also reminded video gaming operators on Thursday (December 12) of a January 13, 2025 deadline to comment on proposed rulemaking to incorporate the industry into the state’s self-exclusion program and to enable cashless wagering on video gambling machines in bars and other locations.
“Under current rules, the self-exclusion program includes only Illinois casinos and sports wagering operators,” Fruchter said. “A potential future rulemaking that includes video gaming would close the gap and provide consistent support and resources for those seeking help with problem gambling.”
Fruchter stressed that the proposal was about unifying the IGB’s self-exclusion program “for all of the gaming verticals under our jurisdiction”. Currently, 15,484 people are enrolled in the IGB’s self-exclusion program.
He also said the future rulemaking to enable implementation of cashless gaming in the state’s video gambling market could benefit both licensees and patrons alike.
“We are seeking stakeholder input about these topics, including substantive provisions and rule implementation and deployment ideas,” Fruchter said. “We are doing this before we adopt proposed rules to explore the feasibility of both of these potential changes.”
Currently, there are 8,660 licensed establishments in Illinois hosting 48,642 video gaming terminals (VGTs). According to the IGB, VGTs generated nearly $3bn in net gaming revenue and over $1bn in total tax revenue in the 12-month period through the end of November.
The IGB on Thursday approved a four-year master sports wagering license for bet365 through December 2028. The bookmaker will provide retail and mobile wagering through a market-access partnership with Walker’s Bluff Casino in Carterville, some 325 miles south of Chicago.
Both bet365 and Walker’s Bluff Casino need to satisfy further regulatory requirements and approval to begin offering sports betting, according to the IGB. The three-member gaming board unanimously also granted bet365 its supplier licenses without comment.
Messages left with bet365 Thursday were not returned.
Fruchter also kept a temporary suspension in place, at least until the IGB’s meeting in February, on National Football League (NFL) bets on injuries, player conduct, officiating assignments and negative-outcome predetermined events in any game.
The temporary suspension also involves bets on first pass to be competed, officiating assignments, roster or personnel decisions, and any other wager that is pre-determined or 100 percent determinable by one person in one play. The temporary suspension came in response to a request filed by the NFL in October.
“The NFL seeks to prohibit objectionable bets for several reasons,” Jonathan Nabavi, vice president of public policy and government affairs at the NFL, wrote in a letter to Illinois regulators.
“Objectionable bets represent markets or bets that are inherently derogatory, designed to be inflammatory, or otherwise based on subject matter against public policy,” Nabavi wrote. “Those markets often are not directly related to game play and can have a negative impact on the consumer and player involved.”
Nabavi added that the other objectionable bets represent “markets or bets that pose the greatest risk, or perceived risk, to game integrity”. He said prohibiting these wagers would protect NFL “inside information.”
Fruchter said regulators had received some questions and comments on the suspension of certain NFL bet types under Sports Wagering Rule 1900.1130.
“We believe the questions presented by some of the commentators and some of the other issues that we’re working through require or deserve further review of these issues,” Fruchter said. “So, the current temporary suspension will remain in place.
“If there are any changes that are warranted or appropriate, I can issue those between now and February 6,” he added.
The temporary suspension of certain NFL bets is expected to be on the agenda for a full vote at the IGB’s next meeting on February 6, 2025.
