Operator News

US – Remote registration for sports betting brings big numbers to Illinois

By Phil - 18 September 2020

An executive order that temporarily allowed remote registration for sports bettors helped Illinois open the door to a remarkable July, even if only two sportsbooks were operating to take advantage.

The Illinois Gaming Board announced Thursday that 230,000 mobile sports betting accounts have been created, a number that would have been a fraction of that with the state’s in-person registration requirement in effect, according to analysts for PlayIllinois, which tracks regulated online and retail gaming in the state. And with the remote registration window once again opened by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, at least until Saturday, new sportsbooks opening, and major sports returning, the difference in the coming months could be in the 10s of millions of dollars.

“We have seen over the past two years that legal jurisdictions with remote registration have a distinct advantage over those states with an in-person registration requirement,” said Dustin Gouker, lead analyst for PlayIllinois.com. “With Illinois’ sizable potential as a market, it could be a difference measure in tens of millions in wagers each month.”

PlayIllinois estimates that the sports betting market in the state will eventually grow to $9bn to $11bn in bets annually, but the industry is off to an uneven start amid a pandemic and confusing in-person registration rules that have been on again and off again. Through July, Illinois sportsbooks have accepted $61.8m in bets, with $52.5m coming in a July that was mostly void of major US sports, according to official reporting released earlier this week.

$51.9m of July’s handle was generated by BetRivers/Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, with the remainder coming from Argosy Casino Alton. The surge was inevitable, with or without remote registration. But to put BetRivers month into perspective, its Illinois handle would have topped every sportsbook in Pennsylvania except FanDuel during the month of July.

With few major sports to bet on, BetRivers received a significant boost from Gov. Pritzker’s executive order to suspend the state’s in-person registration requirement — which forces a sports bettor to be in the physical presence of a retail sportsbook at time of registration — until July 26. That suspension was reinstituted on 26 August through at least Saturday, opening the door for a remote registration boom for DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, and William Hill, which have all launched online sportsbooks in Illinois since. But no one is certain if the governor will allow the executive order to lapse this weekend.

“We’re so early in the process in Illinois, but August and September will be particularly telling months,” Gouker said. “Obviously, we expect a surge in action just from a full schedule of major sports. But remote registration widens the market by simply adding a layer of convenience for those in Illinois who don’t live near a retail sportsbook.”

The difference between in-person registration requirements and remote registration can be dramatic. Nowhere is that clearer than in New Jersey and Nevada.

New Jersey, which does not have in-person registration requirements, has overtaken Nevada as the nation’s largest sports betting market. And that difference has been critical during the pandemic.

New Jersey — which does not have in-person registration requirements — has overtaken Nevada as the nation’s largest sports betting market, topping Nevada in every month this year and shattering Nevada’s record for monthly handle in August with $668 million in wagers. And from March through July, New Jersey accepted $834.5 million in bets, nearly twice as much as Nevada’s $441.1 million.

Indiana, Colorado, and Pennsylvania have seen success fueled by online betting without in-person registration, too.

“It is a key differentiator and fundamental difference between Nevada and the largest of the newer markets, all of which have benefited from their online products being untethered to in-person registration,” Gouker said. “That has held especially true during the pandemic, when in-person betting has slowed even after reopening from shutdowns.”