The whole landscape of sports betting is now set to evolve within the US, since laws have been changed and many states are now starting to legalize this. We have continued to see this across more and more states and Illinois was another to do so across 2020. It saw them make both physical sportsbooks and online sports betting legal for state residents, with this coming into force from the early period of March. You then had the likes of William Hill Illinois and other leading firms joining the market within the state. With different ones becoming available, it has led to many advantages and perks to be picking up for players.
Mobile registration has also now been allowed for these platforms, having previously been set that people would have to visit one of the casinos in order to register for online use. This was lifted to allow players to register online in September of last year and it is also something we have seen across many states in the US, following them legalization and opening the gaming markets.
Sports betting within the state has continued to see different changes being made within the last few years, which has resulted in it finally reaching the level it is now at and it’s accessibility. In 2018 for example, lawmakers had started to express their interest in opening up legal sports betting within Illinois. This also saw five different bills introduced. 2019 was a big year for the state, as Governor Pritzker then called for legislation to be introduced in order to legalize sports betting within the state, whilst also including revenue within the proposal on the budget. Multiple amendments were then made, before it was finally passed. 2020 then saw the first sports bets placed in the early period of the year, with the online market also growing. This is set to continue moving forward, with more and more players now looking to get involved, since the changes have been made.
Players can now easily open accounts online from within the state, with many different operators now entering the market. In limited cases, they may also still need to register physically at land-based establishments, but this still remains at issue at present, due to the continued issues around the world-wide pandemic. This is just one example of a market that has now opened within the US and there is no doubt many more will follow suit, alongside many that already have. This is now set to be a very fast-growing market within the US, that is set to become the dominant force in the online sports betting market world-wide.
