Illinois passes iGaming and DFS bill

nois senators have passed a bill which would legalise both iGaming and Daily Fantasy Sports in the last moments of the Senate’s regular session.

A slightly modified version of House Bill 479 was passed by 42 votes to 10 after senators changed the proposed legislation to include the legalisation of iGaming, where it had previously only included DFS.

Under the proposed legislation, DFS and Igaming operators would be taxed on their total gross revenue on an increasing scale: companies that generate over $1m will pay 5%, those generating between $1m and $3m will pay 7.5%, companies generating between $3m and $8m will pay 10% and those whose revenue exceeds $8m will pay 15% of their total gross revenue to the state.

The bill also included measures to ban individuals under the age of 21 and professional sports players from participating in any kind of gaming platform and also outlined state assistance to problem gamblers.

This latest bill follows previous measures to legalise DFS in 2016, measures which were passed by Senate vote but stalled after lengthy debate by Illinois legislators. The new measures will be debated in the next Senate session, due to start on 8 June, with proponents of DFS and iGaming in the state hoping that the new bill will avoid a similar fate.