Sports betting launches in Illinois with wager at Rivers Casino

Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

All sports bets are on in Illinois.

The Land of Lincoln became the 15th state to play host to a legal sports wager as Rivers Casino in Des Plaines opened the state’s first sportsbook Monday morning, introducing Illinois’ latest gambling foray that officials are betting will help bankroll an ambitious capital plan for the cash-strapped state.

For the ballyhooed first bet, Blackhawks announcer Eddie Olczyk put $100 down on his hometown White Sox to win the American League pennant at 16-to-1 odds.

Blackhawks announcer Eddie Olczyk makes Illinois’ first sportsbook wager and puts $100 down on his hometown White Sox to win the American League pennant at 16-to-1 odds at BetRivers Sportsbook in Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Monday morning, March 9, 2020.

The wager at Rivers put an end to more than eight months of scrambling by state gambling regulators to lay the ground rules for the nascent industry — and groaning from impatient fans eager to get in on the action while sports betting was launched across the border in Indiana in September.

It also marked the latest formal rollout of sports betting as its spread across the country continues. The industry is rolling out in several other states in the months ahead, including in Michigan later this week, and a host of additional states are poised to pass legislation following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to do so in 2018.

A handful of other Illinois casinos have applied for sports betting licenses, plus a Downstate racetrack.

So far, besides Rivers, the Argosy Casino Alton near St. Louis is the only other to announce a firm launch date: March 16, a buzzer-beater for the glut of March Madness betting expected as the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament tips off March 17. But under the gambling expansion law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last June, bets can’t be placed on Illinois collegiate teams.

The state’s three racetracks are also eligible to open sportsbooks, as well as large stadiums like Wrigley Field and the United Center.

Most, if not all, of Illinois’ 10 existing casinos are expected to eventually lay sports wagers, as are the up to six new casinos allowed under that sweeping gambling expansion.

While Illinois casino interests are concerned about further saturating a state market with even more casinos on top of 33,000-plus video gambling machines dotting the walls at thousands of bars and lounges across the state, sports betting is viewed as an untapped market.

One analysis pegged Illinois’ eventual sports betting handle at $5.2 billion, rivaling that of Nevada.

And with a 15% tax rate on gross sportsbook revenue, Pritzker’s office anticipates the industry eventually will inject about $60 million into state coffers each year. The tax rate goes up to 17% for Rivers and any other casinos that might open in Cook County — including the potential Chicago mega-casino so coveted by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Tax revenue from Pritzker’s gambling expansion is largely earmarked for a $45 billion plan for construction projects across the state.

BetRivers Sportsbook, the first brick-and-mortar sportsbook approved by the Illinois Gaming Board, opened to the public at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines on Monday.

BetRivers Sportsbook, the first brick-and-mortar sportsbook approved by the Illinois Gaming Board, opened to the public at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines on Monday.