DraftKings, filing under the name Crown IL Gaming LLC, and FanDuel, filing under parent company Betfair Interactive US LLC, join BetRivers, Penn National Gaming and PointsBet as licensed online operators, with William Hill Illinois expected to receive their license by the end of July.
“We can confirm that we received our temporary operating permit in Illinois, which brings us one step closer to going live in the state,” said DraftKings COO Tim Dent in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Illinois Gaming Board towards being able to offer Illinois’ sports fans our top-rated sportsbook platform to wager on their favourite sports, teams and players.”
Both operators were prohibited from sports betting in Illinois due to a penalty box period preventing them from applying for a license for 18 months after launching online betting apps in Colorado. However, Governor Pritzker passed an emergency declaration in May temporarily lifting an in-person registration requirement for sports betting apps, allowing players to both sign up and bet online.
DraftKings and FanDuel quickly struck partnerships with casinos that don’t have the means or ability to produce class-leading apps themselves in exchange for a share of their revenue. And thanks to their respective partnerships with Casino Queen and Boyd Gaming, the sports betting companies could be eligible to accept legal online wagers in the state as early as this month, marking a radical shift in industry expectation.
