Illinois makes surprise push to legalize online gambling
State Senate passes H 479 in closing hours of legislative session, with House expected to consider it next week
A bill to legalize online gambling and DFS in Illinois was passed by the State Senate in the final hours of the legislative session on Wednesday night.
The bill must still pass the House, which is expected to reconvene on June 8, when bill H 479 could be discussed as a way to tackle the state’s budget deficit.
The legislation would create the Internet Gaming Act, with online poker and casino overseen by a new Division of Internet Gaming within the Illinois Gaming Board.
Only the state’s licensed casino and horseracing operators would be able to apply for licenses, with each licensee able to operate two internet skins.
However each skin “must reflect a brand owned by the licensee or any affiliate of the licensee in the United States,” perhaps limiting the ability of international brands to enter the market.
Affiliate was defined as a person who “directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a licensee.”
Online technology vendors will pay application fees up to $250,000, while there is also a bad actor clause, stating there will be no licenses for vendors who have “accepted wagers via the internet in contravention of this Act or in contravention of any law of the United States.”
The bill started out as DFS legislation, but online gambling was reportedly added as a way to gain the support of the state’s casino operators who view DFS as direct competition.
This is the furthest any online gaming legislation has advanced in Illinois, although the state did legalize online lottery back in 2012.
Online gambling could generate up to $100m in upfront licensing fees for the state, according to estimates from Online Poker Report, with licenses costing $10m as an upfront payment against future gaming taxes.