Three Sportsbooks Will be Opened for the NCAA

By Matt Speakman,
Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

Matt Speakman Betting Expert at online-gambling.com

A die-hard fan of the Patriots, Matt Speakman is an expert on everything related to sports betting and DFS sites. Over the years, he has proven a valuable asset for our team at online-gambling.com. You can find Speakman's professional tips and tricks in any of his many articles on the website.

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Last updated: February 22, 2020

A few days ago Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker reported that three sportsbooks will open in time for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and start accepting bettings.

Governor of Illinois © Charles Edward Miller/Flickr

It’s a boost for Illinois sports betting companies, nevertheless, without betting on mobile games, bettors will continue driving to Indiana or Iowa and two states will continue generative revenue instead of Illinois. In other words, Chicago-based casino still could not replace the ease that mobile offers to bettors at the moment.

Three Illinois casinos have been granted provisional sports betting business licenses. One of those licenses were given to Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, located just north of O’Hare International Airport in the Chicago suburbs.

The other license was granted to Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, located approximately 35 miles from Chicago while the 3rd resort is Argosy Casino in Alton, located on the northern shore of the Mississippi River.

The City of Rockford will likely have a new casino sooner than later, however, nothing is official at the moment as the upcoming Hard Rock Casino still needs Illinois Gaming Board approval before the project can become a reality.

Team Players Are Not Allowed to Place Sports Bettings

Regardless of the situation, March Madness is a great moment to enter sports betting as it is just like the Super Bowl, some of the two biggest sports betting occasions of the year. Nevertheless, players from Illinois’ teams are prohibited to place bets on their games as part of Illinois ‘ sports betting law prohibits betters from wagering on the state’s college teams. When sports betting is finally live in Illinois, gamblers will be able to bet on sportsbook casinos as well as on mobile apps sold by those casinos. Additionally, online casinos like FanDuel and DraftKings will be allowed to begin selling mobile sports betting 18 months after the sports betting goes live.

There’s no official date in terms of sports betting going live, but the men’s NCAA basketball tournament should start on March 17. The Illinois Sports Wagering Act, passed last year as part of a broader gambling expansion bill, allows the state to acquire a sports gaming license from 10 casinos, three horse tracks and seven of the largest sports venues, with three additional online-only licenses to be issued 18 months after the first on-site license is issued. Sports betting companies will also be capable of offering online betting, however, that will probably come after the opening of bricks-and-mortar facilities.

In December last year, the gaming board officially allowed the opening of the application process, yet applicants waited for the operating rules before applying.

Online Betting Is Just Now Becoming Popular in the U.S.

Online betting has just recently become a mainstream between bettors in the United States as the Supreme Courte finally in 2018 decided to remove the federal ban and give the states the power to decide by themselves whether they want sports betting (both online and offline) legal within their territories or not.

Illinois joined sports betting in the spring of 2019, nevertheless, sports betting lovers still don’t have the chance to place sports bets from the comfort of their home with just a few clicks on their mobile device.