The Internet Gaming Act was thought to be iGaming’s last hope. This bill, which was sponsored by Representative Robert Rita in the House and the Senate’s Senator Christina Castro would have effectively added online casinos and online poker to Illinois’ already successful online and retail sports wagering market.
Sadly, the state has been drawing dead when it comes to legal online casino gaming. Much like the proven success of legal sports wagering, online casino gaming will not only attract more customers, but it will also provide punters with a better, safer gambling experience that’s structured and taxed by state bodies.
Currently, casino gaming is only allowed in a handful of states namely New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, as well as Delaware. If everything works accordingly, Illinois could be the 6th state to legalize online casino games.
Thankfully, the 2 government officials’ names above, that is Representative Robert Rita and State Senator Christina Castro were both re-elected. As such, it is likely that the 2 will continue to rally other officials to push for the legalization of iGaming in Illinois. In 2021, the push to expand iGaming fell short.
Had House Bill 3142 been legalized, the retail casinos and racetracks in Illinois would have been allowed a maximum of 3 skins for online casino gambling. This Bill, which is also commonly referred to as the Internet Gaming Act, would also have enacted a tax rate of 12%.
More importantly, the Internet Gaming Act would have authorized Illinois to join a multi-state online poker compact that would see the market share liquidity with other neighboring states with online casinos. It is estimated that if Illinois legalized its iGaming market come 2024, the state could generate as much as $868 million in iGaming revenue in just its first year of operation.
If this was to be made a reality, Illinois would effectively be the highest revenue generator in the country (even higher than Pennsylvania or New Jersey) by 2028. Three of the largest online operators in the country including WSOP, PokerStars, as well as BetMGM all have direct access to punters in the state through their online sports betting products.
In addition, Illinois also offers retail casinos, video game terminals, horse racing, as well as lottery games. The only piece of the missing puzzle in this vibrant market is online casino gaming.
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iGaming remains elusive for many other states
As sports betting has continued to grow by leaps and bounds in the country with state governments, punters, and even once-opposed sports leagues embracing the market. Punters in the country now have access to more sports gambling options than ever. Although sports betting has enjoyed a meteoric rise, the case hasn’t been the same for online casinos.
When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to clear the way for all states to offer legal sports betting services, the market experienced rapid expansion. With this rapid growth came an expectation in some states that online casinos would automatically find their place in the already vibrant gambling ecosystem.
But this hasn’t been the case. Although the iGaming market in the country has tremendous potential for expansion and growth, state governments haven’t been as embracing it. Part of the reason why many state officials refuse to legalize online casinos is the persistent concern that iGaming could cannibalize income and customers from retail casinos.
Of course, the gambling industry itself has conducted studies and surveys and established that cannibalization of revenue would not occur. As a matter of fact, experts claim that legal iGaming could just be the thing that allows retail casinos and mobile sportsbooks to take off further.
All one has to do for proof of this is look at New Jersey, which is currently one of the most profitable iGaming markets in North America. When New Jersey introduced online casinos in November 2013, the brick-and-mortar establishments in the state shared the same concerns. However, what states need to understate is that iGaming is not designed to compete with sports betting but rather to help it grow.
Although it is evident that iGaming in the US is still very much in its infancy, growth opportunities still abound. That’s because sports betting has already provided a ready-made structure and monitoring apparatus for iGaming to succeed with ease. Any state that offers legal sports betting including Illinois remains a great candidate to adopt online casino gaming.
Still, New Jersey debuted online gambling 10 years ago, and the state’s casinos have generated close to $10 billion from gamblers online based on reports from the American Gaming Association. Online casinos in Pennsylvania, on the other hand, have produced $2.47 billion while Michigan’s casinos have managed $2 billion online since they were legalized in January 2021.
These figures mentioned above only include revenue generated from online casinos and do not cover sports betting revenue, which in many states is recorded separately. iGaming has been such a boon for New Jersey’s gambling market that Garden State extended its law allowing iGaming for an additional 10 years last year.
Illinois is no doubt performing well with legal sports betting as evidenced by September’s revenue. In 2022, the Prairie State generated gross gaming revenue of more than $536 million through September. This amount was at least $19 million more compared to New Jersey’s GGR of $517 million.
If the Land of Lincoln wants to keep beating New Jersey and other bigger states, it must do everything possible to maximize the full benefits of legal iGaming. Sports betting stands as the perfect complement to online casino gaming as the 2 verticals combined seamlessly to offer punters a more enhanced experience.
Final Thoughts
Illinois and many other states with legal sports betting have already seen the advantage of online sports betting firsthand. However, it is not time for the various states without online casino gambling to take the next step and modernize their digital gambling experience.
If implemented properly, legal iGaming has the capacity to top safely and effectively upwards of approximately $300 million to Illinois’ bottom line. For this reason alone, Illinois lawmakers should strive to make online casino gaming legislation a priority in 2023.
