Rivers Casino Des Plaines and Rush Street Interactive have launched sports betting via BetRivers, meaning that online sports betting is officially live in Illinois. 

The offerings were officially released to the public at 10:00 a.m. Central Time yesterday, with players allowed to register online due to a temporary passed law. 

Rivers Casino Des Plaines had taken the Land of Lincoln’s first legal sports bet on March 9th, prior to the state’s COVID-19 lockdown. 

Over half-a-dozen land-based venues in Illinois were recently awarded licenses to offer sports betting at their venue, including Rivers. 

“Excited to make history” 

In a statement, Rush Street Interactive President Richard Schwartz spoke about the launch of sports betting on the BetRivers app. 

His thoughts on this and online sports betting in Illinois were as follows. 

“We are excited to make history in bringing the first online sportsbook to sports fans in our home state just in time as American sports are coming back into action.”

Players in Illinois would normally have to register for sports betting at land-based casinos in the state. However, due to the lack of being able to do so, they can do so at BetRivers.com for the time being. This is due to Governor J.B. Pritzker recently passing an executive order allowing them to sign up digitally. 

Individuals in Illinois must be aged 21 and above to register for a sports betting account. 

The Chicago Sun-Times has mentioned that the ongoing global pandemic has caused a $2.7 billion dent in the state’s budget. As such, additional gaming revenue could help to claw back these losses. 

Illinois sports betting gaining traction 

Earlier this month, seven casinos in Illinois – including Rivers Casino Des Plaines – were awarded four-year master sports betting licenses. 

Along with Rivers, Argosy Casino in Alton has been awarded a proper permit. Both of these venues were previously operating under temporary licenses. 

Two Hollywood Casinos venues, in Aurora and Joliet, have also had their applications to offer sports betting accepted. In addition to these, Grand Casino Victoria in Elgin, Par-A-Dice in East Peoria and Casino Queen in East St. Louis are able to take wagers in this vertical. 

Illinois online sports betting goes live at an ideal time 

The sports betting industry is slowly returning to a level of action, with professional leagues in the process of returning after a forced hiatus. 

At the end of next month, the NBA is set to make a comeback. Meanwhile, Major League Soccer (MLS) will return on July 18th with a tournament prior to the resumption of the league campaign. 

Major League Baseball (MLB), on the other hand, is in the process of discussing how the 2020 season will begin. A 70-game proposal has been rejected, which would have seen the campaign run from July 19th until September 30th. Had this gone ahead, the playoffs for the next two years would have been extended. 

On top of the above, $10 million would be donated to social justice causes. Universal designated hitters were another suggestion as part of the changes put forward.