In-Person Registration Requirement for Illinois Sports Betting Mobile Apps Finally Ends

A few days ago, remote registration for Illinois mobile sports betting ended. This long awaited day has finally come for Illinois sports betting fans. Before now, in order to sign up for an Illinois mobile sportsbook, eligible bettors had to go to a physical casino to go through the registration process.

To sign up for certain apps, this could require a three hour drive for some interested bettors. The in-person registration requirement was mandated by the 2019 law that legalized Illinois sports betting. However, a change was made to this law last year in 2021 that set an end date for the mandate for in-person registration in the state.

The move to allow for mobile registration for Illinois mobile sports betting is an exciting step for the industry in the state. The hope is that mobile sportsbooks in IL will see an even greater influx of users and bets.

As of right now there are seven separate mobile sports betting operators in the state. So, interested users will have even more of a choice when it comes to registering for a mobile sportsbook account. These seven sportsbook apps as well as their partner casinos are:

• PointsBet Sportsbook, Hawthorne Race Course
• FanDuel Sportsbook, Par-a-Dice Casino
• DraftKings Sportsbook, DraftKings at Casino Queen
• Caesars Sportsbook, Grand Victoria Casino Elgin/Harrah’s Joliet/Harrah’s Metropolis
• BetMGM Sportsbook
• BetRivers Sportsbook, Rivers Des Plaines
• Barstool Sportsbook, Hollywood Casino Aurora/Hollywood Casino Joliet

Now, the sign up process for a mobile sportsbook account in Illinois will be much easier. Interested bettors will just need to use their mobile device of choice to open the app they are interested in signing up for. They will need to download the app and then follow the registration process to create their account. As part of the process, verification for age and identity will be required.

Before this change, bettors were able to finish most of the registration process through their mobile device. But, they would need to go to the corresponding casino for the app to verify their account. The reasoning behind this requirement was to protect local casino companies for the first year and a half of the new Illinois sports betting market.

The in-person sign up requirement was suspended at one point by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker due to the global health emergency. So, Illinois sportsbooks have already tasted the success of remote sign ups for those months. However, the suspension was ended by Governor Pritzker in 2021.

Also a few days ago, BetMGM became the newest Illinois sports betting operator when it launched in the state. BetMGM had to wait for over a year for the Illinois Gaming Board to approve their licensing application. This delay may also have been due to the global health crisis.

Adam Greenblatt, the CEO of BetMGM, indicated that he felt their Illinois launch was a huge milestone for the company. This is because of the size of the Illinois sports betting market. He looks forward to seeing how the company fares in Illinois.

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert.