The state of Illinois has seen both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly approve an amendment to House Bill 3136 that will see in-person registrations for mobile betting expire on March 5.
Illinois Votes in Favor of the HB 3136 Amendment
The Senate approved the bill with an overwhelming number of 44 to 12 and passed it to the House where it received an even warmer response with 100 voting in favor of the bill amendment against only 11 voting against and a single representative voting present.
The legislature will send the bill to the office of Governor Jay Robert Pritzker within 30 days of its passing. Once Pritzker gets HB 3136, he will have 60 days to sign it into law. There is a slim chance he will refuse to sign it but that seems highly unlikely.
Pritzker has been largely opposed to the in-person requirement of the gaming expansion bill and suspended it several times during 2020 in order to jumpstart the market. Pritzker kept suspending the in-person registration until this April when he decided to refrain from taking action.
However, by that point, there were more than enough registrations to help the local gambling industry progress forward. By August, the state had marked $5 billion in an all-time handle, ranking among the top three sports betting markets in the United States.
Additional Details for the Amendment
Some of the details in the bill amendment happen to be very similar to those in Senate Bill 521. The latter received unanimous approval by the General Assembly but didn’t pass the Senate.
The HB 3136 amendment envisions three major changes to sports betting. One of them is the end of the notorious in-person registrations.
Other than that, people will be able to place bets on collegiate and university teams from Illinois. This will have some restrictions – bets will be accepted only by on-site sportsbooks and only before the game has started.
Additionally, the seating capacity restrictions for facility sports wagering applications will receive changes. Previously only arenas with at least 17,000 sears were allowed to apply. Now even the Wintrust Arena with its 10,000 seats will become eligible to apply for a sports betting license.
Illinois has been enjoying great success with its fresh betting market. Admittedly, there have been some ups and downs, with the state marking some rather unexciting results in July but despite that, Pritzker’s efforts have paid off and the state remains as one of the most promising US markets.