Illinois Is About to Lift the Ban on in-state College Sports Betting

Illinois was the 15th state to legalize sports betting in the year 2019. Similarly, in the year 2020, the first legal casino wager was placed at a slow pace.

Similar to other states, Illinois started its tenure in sports gambling by inviting residents to register and perform in-bet after the approval from the retail sportsbook.

In 2020, during the pandemic period, Illinois opened the door for online betting. However, newly entered bettors still had to register in person. Later, this registration process lifted in August 2020 due to the increase in pandemic cases.

Illinois bettors had the frustration due to one restriction- the inability to bet on in-state college teams. However, the state was in denial mode in-state College betting on maintaining a certain level of integrity in the local sports.

The frustration was visible during this year’s NCAA Tournament second round when Illinois faced in-state foe Loyola-Chicago. Illinois residents also felt the restrictions with Northwestern, Southern Illinois, NIU, and others.

No More Restriction

This restriction seems coming to an end. This week the Illinois House of Representatives passed the Amendment to Senate Bill 521 allowing in-state college betting.

This amendment was pushed by representatives Michael Zalewski and Robert Rita passing the House Tuesday, which received 96-11 in-favor votes.

Few Restrictions still on

Although the passing of the amendment is a significant win, certain restrictions will remain. Firstly, wagers placed on the in-state college teams will not be allowed through mobile betting. Instead, bettors will have to visit their local sportsbooks to place the bet.

Presently, the state allows tier-one wagers placed on in-state College teams. It will include bets predicting outcomes from the games. Here, players and prop teams aren’t included.

In the final restriction, live in-game betting won’t be an option for the residents of Illinois. Moreover, bets on the in-state College team are only possible before the game. The passing of the amendment will be in place for two and will undergo renewal in July 2023. This amendment includes approval for Wintrust Arena for a license application to build an in-house sportsbook.