Sports bettors do not take sports betting with levity. Any act of legislation or executive order targeted against sports betting is a great disservice to it. In a reverse manner, any governmental order to either support gambling or repeal an act that limits its activities, is greeted with wide applause. The reinstatement of remote registration for online sports betting by the governor of Illinois is a great delight to sports bettors in that country. Let’s find out all that needs to be known on this new reinstatement.
In-person registration used to be required for opening a sports betting account in Illinois
You should know that sports bettors in the State of Illinois couldn’t open a sports betting account without appearing in a land-based casino. In a way, this norm discouraged the growth of online sports betting. While one can argue that online sports betting itself was not prohibited, one can also question the autonomy of online sports betting when in-person appearance is mandatory for the validation of one’s account.
An embargo was technically placed on online sports betting to limit its usage. But all that has become a thing of the past as the Governor of the State, J.B. Pritzker reinstated on Friday 21 August 2020, an executive order that suspended the in-person registration requirement.
What does the New Executive Order of the Governor say?
It states that sports bettors in the state of Illinois can once again register in online sports betting accounts remotely. What this means is that you do not have to appear in-person at a land-based casino before your registration for a sports betting account is approved. Therefore, within the state of Illinois, you can remotely register from anywhere.
Nevertheless, the executive order recognizes and still maintains the closure of existing licensed casino gambling facilities due to public health and safety. As every state in the United States works towards flattening the curve and reducing the spread of Covid 19, the right and sensible thing to do is to uphold the closure of land-based casinos.
What are the Benefits that come along with this Executive Order?
Sports bettors and sports book operators are great beneficiaries of the executive order. The possibility of contracting communicable diseases is greatly reduced as bettors do not feel obligated to appear in person for registration. This is a huge advantage because no one knows for sure when normalcy will return as Covid-19 is still presently being contracted and social distancing is still greatly being encouraged. More so, the comfort associated with online registration is unparalleled. Bettors would anytime anyway have the opportunity of doing their online sports betting registration without any physical embargo.
For online sports betting operators, the market is widened. And new market entrants will include the generation that values digitalization the most. The opportunity to expand and sell your market to every nook and cranny of Illinois is a big boost. Profit would be realized on a colossal scale. When we factor in the current closure of brick and mortar casinos, this executive order will revive online sports betting and complement the losses incurred from restrictions placed on traditional casinos.
