Sports betting debuts in Illinois at Rivers casino

The Rivers Casino in Des Plaines opened the state’s first sportsbook Monday morning, introducing an industry in Illinois that officials are hoping will help bankroll an ambitious capital plan for the cash-strapped state.

For the first bet, Blackhawks announcer Eddie Olczyk put $100 down on his hometown White Sox to win the American League pennant at 16-to-1 odds, the Chicago Sun-Times reports

"I’m a Cubs fan, but you’ve got to bet with your brain instead of your heart," the longtime NHL center and horse racing handicapper said.

The wager at Rivers put an end to more than eight months of scrambling by state gambling regulators to lay the ground rules for the nascent industry — and groaning from impatient fans eager to get in on the action while sports betting dollars flowed across the border to Indiana, where it launched in September.

The bet by Olczyk — who said his potential winnings are earmarked for colon cancer research at Northwestern Memorial Hospital — also marked the latest formal rollout of sports betting as its spread across the country continues.

The industry is rolling out in several other states in the months ahead, including in Michigan later this week, and a host of additional states are poised to pass legislation following a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to do so in 2018.

So far, besides Rivers, the Argosy Casino Alton near St. Louis is the only other to announce a firm launch date: March 16, a buzzer-beater for the glut of March Madness betting expected as the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament tips off March 17. Under the gambling expansion law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker last June, though, bets can’t be placed on Illinois collegiate teams.

The Des Plaines property had its book built almost three months before it got the green light from regulators.

"You always want to be first, but you also want to do it right," Rivers chairman Neil Bluhm said.

The billionaire real estate mogul pointed to his casino’s licensing in turbulent economic times in 2008, when the Illinois Gaming Board awarded Bluhm’s company the Des Plaines casino after it was controversially denied from nearby Rosemont due to investors’ ties to organized crime.

"The world [market] was really crashing then, and look where we’ve all come since then, both the country as well as this terrific casino," Bluhm said. "So I’m equally confident that while we’re opening a sportsbook today, when we’re all worried about a virus, and the financial markets are all melted — we will come through this, and this country will be equally successful or more successful than before, and our casino will continue to thrive."

The state’s three racetracks are also eligible to open sportsbooks, as well as large stadiums such as Wrigley Field and the United Center.

Most, if not all, of Illinois’ 10 existing casinos are expected to eventually lay sports wagers, as are the up to six new casinos allowed under that sweeping gambling expansion.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, industry analysts are bullish, estimating the yearly statewide handle could eventually smash $5 billion and even surpass $10 billion, potentially topping the Nevada industry.

With a 15% tax rate on gross sportsbook revenue, Pritzker’s office anticipates the industry eventually will inject about $60 million into state coffers each year. The tax rate goes up to 17% for Rivers and any other casinos that might open in Cook County — including the potential Chicago mega-casino so coveted by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Pritzker, who prized sports betting as part of the gaming expansion, was conspicuously absent from the sportsbook opening ceremony, as his administration deals with a growing number of coronavirus cases statewide.

To maximize sports betting revenue, analysts agree it’ll be mobile betting that powers the market. Indiana bettors have put down well over $500 million since the Hoosier state’s launch five months ago, with most of those wagers placed on cellphones.

Monday’s launch also started the clock on the 18-month “penalty box” period for online-only betting giants such as FanDuel and DraftKings, a provision of the Illinois sports betting law pushed by Bluhm that controversially locks out such companies from the industry rollout.

Physical sportsbooks such as Rivers can set up their own betting apps in the meantime, though. Greg Carlin, Bluhm’s business partner, said they’re aiming to do just that within a few months.