Industry advises Illinois to remove cap on online-only licenses
William Hill suggests regulator allows in-person registration at stadium sportsbooks
Industry trade body iDEA Growth has advised the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) to remove its proposed cap on online-only licences, as part of the regulator’s public consultation.
The association, made up of US-facing operators and headed by lawyer Jeff Ifrah, has also called for the regulator to reconsider its elevated fees for online licenses and the clause requiring bettors to register in-person.
Also responding to the public consultation, William Hill advised the regulator to adopt a 270-day grace period for operators to adopt regulations ahead of the state going live.
The bookmaker also suggested allowing operators to use one software application across the state instead of separate applications per property as proposed.
Hills advised having in-person registration available to users at sports venues that are licensed to offer betting.
The IGB opened a public consultation period in August to give stakeholders and opportunity to comment on the proposed betting law.
The bill, passed in June, proposed that online-only licenses would cost $20m, with a maximum of three available via a competitive process, and operators taxed 15% of gross gaming revenue.
IGB Administrator Marcus Fruchter said the regulator was reviewing all submissions and would use the comments where appropriate, to inform its sports betting rules, procedures and policies.