Sports betting lifts Illinois; Packer in a pickle

It was sagacious of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (whose family used to co-own the Grand Victoria casino in Elgin) to temporarily suspend his state’s rule requiring in person registration for sports betting. Last month, the Land of Lincoln saw $140 million in handle. Illinoisans may not want to go to casinos but mobile wagering got a big thumbs-up, even with FanDuel on the sidelines for almost all of August. Still, PlayIllinois.com‘s Zack Hall notes that “in-person registration rules remain inconsistent and tenuous.” So there’s work to be done. Added analyst Dustin Gouker, “August’s results are a testament to just how lucrative a market Illinois truly can be. “In-person registration was stunting growth and that ended on Aug. 21 … Even with that, Illinois found itself ahead of Colorado [$128.5 million], which has matured much more quickly, and on the heels of Indiana [$169 million], the country’s fourth-largest market.”