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Illinois Governor Temporarily Okays Remote Registrations, Again!
By Jeff Osienya Aug 25, 2020 LegalityAfter a surge in new infections of the novel Coronavirus in the Prairie State, Governor Pritzker has taken an about-turn to reinstate a shelved executive order that permitted bettors to sign up for mobile sportsbook accounts remotely.In an unexpected but welcome turn of events, residents of Illinois will once again be allowed to create online sports betting accounts remotely once again. Last Friday, the Illinois Governor, Jay Robert Pritzker, reinstated an executive order that effectively suspended the condition that required players to present themselves in-person to a land-based casino to register for online sports betting accounts.
The U-turn comes days after health officials in the Prairie State reported rising numbers of new Coronavirus cases in the Metro East region of the state. Thus, even before the state government restored the executive order 2020-41, new restrictions for licensed video gaming operations were announced for the affected region earlier last week, to limit operation hours from between 8:00 am and 11:00 pm. The new measures affected the DraftKings at Casino Queen and Alton Casino Argosy and on top of that, floor occupancy rates were then curbed at 25% of the fire code capacity.
The In-Person Registration Conundrum in Illinois
According to the Sports Wagering Act that was signed into law by Governor J. B. Pritzker last year in July, bettors in the Prairie State must avail themselves in person for the registration of online sports betting accounts, for the first 18 months of the debut of a legal sports betting market. Therefore, given that sports betting in Illinois went live on 9th March 2020, it means that according to the law, there’s still 1 more year left for residents to be creating their sports betting accounts by going to a brick and mortar betting venue.
When the coronavirus pandemic led to the closure of land-based gaming facilities on 16th March, the future became bleak for the newly launched regulated sports betting market in Illinois which was at that time only a few days old. In a bid to save the birthing industry, Gov. Pritzker issued executive order 2020-41 on 4th July to revoke the in-person registration requirement and allow players to create accounts remotely. This order was supposed to stay active as long as the Gubernational Disaster Proclamations of the state were in effect.
Come July 26th, the initial executive order came to an end, nearly a month after brick and mortar gaming facilities were allowed to reopen on 1st July. Now, after the recent developments, the governor decided to reinstate the executive order 2020-41, under a new executive order 2020-52 last Friday. Based on the information published on the official website of the Prairie State, executive order 2020-52 will temporarily be in effect until 19th September.
The original executive order 2020-41 which has just been reestablished reads;
QuoteWHEREAS, due to social distancing requirements put in place to protect public health, and because existing licensed casino gambling facilities authorized pursuant to the Sports Wagering Act have been closed to the public since March 16, 2020 and will reopen only when safe to do so pursuant to the Restore Illinois plan, Illinois residents may not be able to appear in-person at a licensed casino;
THEREFORE, by the powers vested in me as the Governor of the State of Illinois, pursuant to Sections 7(1), 7(2), 7(8), and 7(12) of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency Act, 20 ILCS 3305, I hereby order the following, effective June 4, 2020:
Section 1. During the duration of the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamations, the provisions in the Sports Wagering Act, 230 ILCS 45/25-30(f), 25-35(f), and 25-40(i), requiring in-person creation of a sports wagering account at a facility authorized pursuant to the Act in order to participate in sports wagering offered over the internet or through a mobile application, are suspended.
Online Sportsbooks Seize the Golden Opportunity
Nasdaq listed DraftKings was quick to pounce on the opportunity, having premiered its online sportsbook in the Prairie State earlier this month. Right after the announcement, the sports betting platform announced the good news via its Twitter handle to let players know that they can create their sportsbook accounts remotely.
BetRivers, the official online sportsbook application of Rivers Casino, which was the first interactive sportsbook to go live in Illinois back in June has also reportedly started accepting online registrations.
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