No sure bet on when sports wagering will be available to Illinois gamblers

Putting a legal bet down on the Bears’ season opener in September? That’s probably not in the cards for Illinois gamblers.

Want to wager on a Cubs playoff game, if they make it to October? Still too optimistic, some gambling supporters say. December action on the Bulls or Blackhawks looks like a long shot, too.

But safe money could well be placed on a legalized sports betting rollout by the time Super Bowl Sunday rolls around in February, according to state Rep. Mike Zalewski, one of the architects of Illinois’ massive gambling expansion signed into law last week.

”It’ll depend largely on [Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s] new Gaming Board, how quickly they can get operational on this topic and decide how fast they issue licenses,” the Riverside Democrat said.

Pritzker first has to appoint a chairperson and a fifth member to that regulatory board, which suddenly finds itself tasked with vetting and supervising up to six new casinos, a continued growth in video gaming machines, and sports betting — an industry that’s entirely new to the state, at least on a legitimate level.

AP Photo/Seth Perlman

In the meantime, brick-and-mortar gambling establishments — including the state’s 10 existing casinos and three horse racing tracks — will be partnering up with sports wagering companies to design in-house sports books, Zalewski said. Professional teams with 17,000-plus capacity stadiums — all the city’s major teams — will be eligible to set up books too.

The state’s first such partnership was announced Monday — just three days after the expansion became law — between Hawthorne Race Course and the Australian bookmaker PointsBet, who say they’ll “work in tandem to build a world-class, multi-faceted sports entertainment venue” at the Stickney track in addition to sports betting at three of their 11 off-track sites.

“This is a shot in the arm for us. We could not be happier,” Hawthorne general manager Tim Carey said.

They’ll be among the operators applying to the Illinois Gaming Board for the sports betting licenses that will cost $10 million, or less based on a percentage of revenue from the smaller race tracks and casinos. How long it takes before fans can place bets depends on how long it takes the board to approve licenses, though state Sen. Terry Link, D-Vernon Hills, has suggested the new board members will be “pro-gaming.”

PointsBet executive Rick Martira said they hope to go live at Hawthorne “at some point this NFL season,” with the timing being “a direct result from the Illinois regulations that will get rolled out over the next couple months.”

The physical gambling locations will be able to take bets online and via apps, too, unlike the online-only sports betting giants DraftKings and Fanduel, which are locked in an 18-month “penalty box” by the legislation. They can either swallow their pride and partner with a physical betting house, or wait until the law clears them to apply for one of three online-only sports betting licenses the state will issue for $20 million apiece around the start of 2021.

Zalewski called his Super Bowl rollout prediction conservative, and a potential Thanksgiving rollout “optimistic.”

Count Link among those bullish on a quick turnaround. The longtime gambling proponent expects bettors will be able to put money down in time for the start of the football season.

”There is a strong will and demand to get this in motion,” the Vernon Hills Democrat said.