Illinois: online registration for mobile sports betting extended

Online registration for mobile sports betting was live in Illinois until late-July when Gov. J.B. Pritzker decided to reverse his previous order, forcing bettors to go to a sportsbook and sign-up in-person. However, the governor then went back to mobile registration, and the executive order was only signed through September 19, when Pritzker decided to extend it again, as reported by Lineups.

In-person registration is still available, for mobile registration only helps sportsbooks even more. Sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel benefit the most from the executive order extension. DraftKings is located in Alton, which is four and a half hours south of Chicago. FanDuel is not much better located in Peoria, which is about two hours southwest of the city.

Mobile registration is significant for two of the largest sportsbooks in the U.S. as their locations are not convenient to bring in customers. Other sportsbooks like BetRivers, PointsBet, and William Hill are all in the Chicagoland area, so they have a bigger advantage.

Illinois has seen nearly 250,000 people sign-up for sports betting accounts online. The mass registration also comes in two months when Pritzker put in the executive order and major sports starting back up in the U.S.

Initially, mobile betting operators had to wait for 18-months before they entered. The “penalty box” period affected books like DraftKings and FanDuel, as the state wanted them to pay for illegally operating daily fantasy sports a few years earlier. Both sportsbooks found loopholes into the Illinois betting market, which was where Pritzker decided to pull his executive order to no allow online registration.

However, that move caused a major backlash in the sports betting industry, where he reversed his order a few weeks later. Now, the extension of online registration continues, which will only help out Illinois sports betting. Last week, the state reported their July betting numbers, which hit $62 million for the month.