SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Gambling, video gaming, casinos, lottery, sports betting and racing have all helped fund the Illinois budget across the years. A new gambling expansion if approved could add an extra $1 billion in revenue for the state.
Known as IGaming, legalization would allow any tablet, phone, laptop, desktop etc. to access online gambling websites. Customers could join a virtual table and play some card games or play slots on the phone screen. These would all use real money.
The bill legalizing IGaming has seen some significant pushback. Opponents said in a House committee hearing that this industry would "cannibalize" the current video gaming market which keeps many bars and restaurants afloat.
Executive director of the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association Ivan Fernandez said online gambling is dangerous for Illinoisan.
"Available 24 hours a day seven days a week when people are most vulnerable, when they're alone, in isolation [or] within the close reach of minors," Fernandez said. "Without any regard for local authority or any reasonable time or spending limits, merely to generate a new tax."
Advocates for legalization said there is already an illegal multi billion dollar market in online gambling that profits off young adults. This has raised issues on consumer protection rights, as illegal sites aren't beholden to U.S. law.
This includes Stake, an online gambling website based in Australia that is supported by popular rapper Drake. Supporters for the bill said the best way to destroy the illegal market is to replace it with a legal market.
"It's very hard once you shut one of them down to prevent another one of them from starting back up the same day with the same spokesperson and the same contact information," James Hartmann a lobbyist for FanDuel said. "The only way to shut it down is have a regulated legal marketplace.
In committee Wednesday, there were some lawmakers who openly opposed the bill. Many of these lawmakers questioned if the law would force companies to be based in Illinois. The language at the time of writing would allow any U.S. company to engage in IGaming across borders. State Rep. Jeff Keicher (R-Sycamore) said that FanDuel isn't acting in good faith.
"What I find ironic is the foundation of [FanDuel] was based on loopholes that you're now trying to close out on other competitors," Keicher said. "You guys built a whole database of sports gambling on the edge and now you want to cut everybody else out help me reconcile with that."
The bill is still in the gaming committee, where lawmakers could vote on it in the near future.
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