BetMGM Sports Launches in IL As In-Person Registration Ends

BetMGM’s sportsbook joins the field late, but is expected to quickly become one of the larger players in Illinois, just as it has in neighboring states.
Downtown Chicago, Illinois. View over the river, with a boat seen floating down. Blue sky with clouds above, reflected in the glass of the buildings which line both sides.
Grzegorz Zdanowski, Pexels
By
March 08, 2022

This launch marks a significant milestone for BetMGM as we enter one of the country’s biggest sports betting markets.BetMGM SportsBook joined the Illinois sports betting market over the past weekend, coinciding with the state ending its requirement that sports bettors visit a brick-and-mortar facility to complete the registration process for placing wagers online.

The operator announced on Monday that it went live in IL over the preceding weekend. BetMGM launched in the Prairie State on the casino license of Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino, a riverboat in East Peoria.

While BetMGM IL will provide an online sportsbook through Par-A-Dice, FanDuel will continue to operate its retail sportsbook on the riverboat. Previously, FanDuel had operated both online and retail sportsbooks through Par-A-Dice, but it transferred its online license to the Fairmount Park Racetrack in Collinsville in March 2021.

“This launch marks a significant milestone for BetMGM as we enter one of the country’s biggest sports betting markets,” said BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt. “We look forward to working with the state of Illinois to bring its passionate sports fans a new, innovative, and unique sports betting experience.”

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Late Entrance to IL Sports Betting Market May Not Matter

BetMGM Sports joins a crowded field but is likely to quickly become one of the biggest online sportsbooks in the state.

During a Q4 2021 earnings call last month, MGM Resorts International, which owns 50% of BetMGM, said the brand was the top operator for online sports and casino gambling in the US. It also estimates that BetMGM is second in terms of sports betting and iGaming overall. Entain owns the other half of BetMGM.

In neighboring Michigan, BetMGM has been among the top three sportsbooks — along with DraftKings and FanDuel — since the market launched in January 2021. It’s a similar landscape in Indiana, where BetMGM was third in revenue in January, behind DraftKings and FanDuel.

Next door in Iowa, BetMGM also clinched the title of fourth-largest operator in terms of revenue in neighboring January, behind FanDuel, DraftKings, and Caesars.

Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) records show that BetMGM applied for a management services provider license on September 4, 2020. The regulator approved the application at its last meeting on January 27, 2022, paving the way for BetMGM to launch as the state’s seventh sportsbook operator.

BetMGM will go head-to-head with rivals Barstool, BetRivers, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel, and PointsBet. Illinois will be the 22nd US jurisdiction for BetMGM.

An eighth operator in Illinois, Unibet, is still waiting for the IGB to approve its application for licensure. Unibet applied to the IGB for a license on November 16, 2020, just a few months before the pandemic hit. Unibet has a market access agreement with Argosy Casino, a riverboat in Alton. In the meantime, Barstool runs a retail sportsbook at Argosy and the riverboat’s website points to a link to download the Barstool app as well.

In-Person Sportsbook Registration Ends

When Illinois voters approved sports betting in 2019, it came with the caveat that bettors would be required to register in-person at a casino or other gaming facility before being permitted to place bets online. The state’s gaming regimen was set up that way in order to give brick-and-mortar facilities a head start in registrations versus online-only operators.

The pandemic upended those plans. Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order waiving the in-person registration requirement in March 2020, but when the pandemic waned the requirement returned on April 4, 2021.

With March Madness kicking off on March 13, switching to remote registration should certainly help give a nice boost to the number of wagers placed on the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament. Over the past two years of legal sports betting in IL, sports bettors have wagered an average of $156 a second and between a new sportsbook in town and increased ease of access, that number is likely to climb.

In-person registration officially ended in Illinois on Saturday, March 5.

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