Illinois Considering Targeting Super Bowl Squares & Mulling iGaming

The Land of Lincoln, faced with an alarming budget deficit, is discussing the possibility of passing online casino gaming legislation and regulating neighborhood Super Bowl squares.

Taxing the Board

Super Bowl squares have become an annual ritual in barrooms and neighborhood gatherings, but the Illinois legislature is considering regulating and taxing it. Last week Illinois state Representative John Cabello introduced HB 1047, which would require that Illinois residents wishing to run Super Bowl betting squares would need to seek approval from the Illinois Gaming Board.

The bill would establish the “Social Gaming Act,” which defines Super Bowl squares as a “social gaming board game” using vertical columns and horizontal rows numbered 0 through 9 to create 100 cells. The score at the end of the first quarter, halftime, the third quarter and the final score dictates which cell is a winner based on the second digit of each team’s score (or first if the team did not score in double digits).

Board manufacturers would be obliged to pay a $5000 licensing fee, while distributors would be required to pay a $1000 fee. Operators of the pool would be charged $50, made payable to the state, and could not pay winnings totaling more than $1,199.

Generating Revenue

The state is also considering iGaming legislation after its mobile sports betting industry made $190 million over the last fiscal year. That number would pale compared to the estimated $800 million in a mature market that Illinois would pocket from iGaming. Faced with a projected budget deficit of $3 billion, the idea of passing an iGaming law has some Illinois legislators reconsidering their opposition.

“In a tough budget year, you’re looking at ways to increase revenue. This is one tool for that,” said state Sen. Cristina Castro, an Elgin Democrat who has introduced iGaming bills that previously fell short. “And it’s something that could be more palatable to constituents.”

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has been quoted as saying, “iGaming is worthy of consideration.”

iGaming Apprehension

Missouri will be the next state to launch online sports betting, bringing the total to 39 states that have either mobile, retail, or a combination of both sports betting options through licensed gaming platform providers. However, iGaming, or online casino gambling, has been adopted by only seven states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Rhode Island, despite the far more lucrative revenues it produces.

The reluctance by many state lawmakers to effectuate iGaming in their respective states is primarily due to opposition by land-based casino operators who are fearful digital casino gaming will cannibalize their business. The fact that they would share in the profits with a third-party provider, ala FanDuel, DraftKings, or Caesars, has done little to assuage their concerns.

Anti-gambling advocates point to the immediacy and convenience of having 24-hour casinos available on mobile devices and PCs as being a threat to those who are vulnerable to gambling excess.

Les Bernal, national director of the Stop Predatory Gambling advocacy group, stated, “This literally is the equivalent of gambling fentanyl. This is putting gambling fentanyl on every smartphone, in every living room, every dorm room, and every office in the state of Illinois that has an internet connection.”

Statistics show that between 1.2-6.2% of the US population is addicted to gambling, and pro-iGaming supporters point out that approximately 95% of the population will not be adversely impacted by online casino gambling, and the tax revenue generated outweighs the social costs.