Politics

Slots at Your Fingertips? Illinois Considers Legalizing Mobile Gambling

Illinois has bet big on gambling by legalizing online sports betting and sports books at horse racetracks and casinos. The state has also permitted 16 casinos, in addition to authorizing slots machines at bars, restaurants and truck stops — collectively bringing in $1.76 billion in tax revenue last year.

Now state lawmakers are considering giving residents another legal way to take their chances: mobile gambling.

Instead of going to a casino to play poker or a bar to play the slots, so-called iGaming participants could play on their tablets or phones, a change that backers told lawmakers at a Springfield hearing on Wednesday could bring in another $1 billion annually.

“We cannot ignore the tremendous boon this bill would have for our state’s coffers,” said state Rep. Edgar Gonzalez Jr. (D-Chicago), sponsor of House Bill 3080. “Illinois is gambling with its future by delaying the adoption of iGaming.”

Gonzalez said people are already gambling on their cellphones through offerings of illegal operators, so it would be safer — and more fiscally prudent — for Illinois to give in to the inevitable by legalizing, taxing and regulating the practice.

“You can take out your phone and in five minutes, be gambling real money slot machines from the app store, unregulated and untaxed,” said FanDuel’s James Hartmann. “So while these bad actors profit, none of it is being captured in tax revenue for the state of Illinois.”

Hartmann said beginning gamblers and “anyone who’s ever been scolded at a blackjack table for doing the wrong thing or stealing someone’s card” will feel more comfortable playing at home on their phone versus going to a casino.

That’s exactly what casino owners and hosts of video game terminals who don’t have plans to enter the internet-based gambling business fear: If gamblers have slots at their fingertips, they won’t go to casinos or bars.

Director of the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association Keith Wetherell said the legalization of online gambling “poses significant risk to our hospitality industry and the thousands of small businesses that depend on the in-person gaming and foot traffic for our survival.”

He estimated bars would close or have to lay off staff.

“iGaming would create unfair competitive competition for local bars, restaurants and video gaming establishments,” Wetherell said. “Unlike large online gaming operators, our members provide community-focused entertainment experience that focus local economies and jobs.”

Veterans and other charitable organizations that have video gaming likewise said they’re concerned about drop-offs in revenue they depend on to fund services.

Gonzalez said those fears are unjustified.

“I’m a young man in my 20s, and I’m very likely to use my phone for all sorts of entertainment, iGaming included, if it were to be passed,” Gonzalez said. “But if I go to the casino, I go for the lived experience. There’s a reason why traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores are still doing well, even after e-books became a thing.”

Gonzalez said he plans to include a provision in his legislation that would “hold harmless” small businesses and veterans’ organizations that offer video gambling to guarantee they don’t suffer financial losses after the legalization of online gambling.

Trevor Hayes, an executive with Caesars Digital, told the committee that in New Jersey, which has “robust” online and brick-and-mortar gambling, online customers visit casinos more than casino-only customers.

It’s an example of a divide within the state’s casino industry, between those that fear online gambling will steal their customer base and those like Caesars, which operates three Illinois casinos but also has a digital gambling platform.

Hayes said Caesars views online gambling as a “marketing vehicle to encourage casino visits.”

He also said legalizing mobile gambling will create marketing and legal jobs, as well as 100 live dealer positions.

Critics, though, say the number of jobs lost at local restaurants and bars, as well as connected jobs funded by the cut local municipalities get from video gaming terminals, will far supersede any job creation.

Penn Entertainment Inc. has casinos in Aurora, Joliet and Alton and also operates video gaming throughout the state.

Penn’s Jay Keller said the company has spent $600 million enhancing and expanding its casinos, an investment “made with the understanding that Illinois’ gaming landscape would remain stable, providing a predictable environment and business for businesses and workers alike. Legalizing iGaming would jeopardize these hard-earned gains.”

The Illinois Gaming Board, the regulatory board responsible for overseeing gambling, is also against legalization.

The board’s Joe Miller told legislators it doesn’t have capacity to take on oversight of a massive online gambling expansion and that trying to would require putting other priorities to the wayside.

Gambling addiction is another concern.

FanDuel’s Hartmann said with legalization, companies are able to monitor users’ activity and implement controls, like age verification and compliance with a state opt-out program for problematic gamblers.

But Ivan Fernandez of the Illinois Gaming Machine Operators Association, which represents the manufacturers, distributors and video gambling terminal operators, predicted issues arising from “putting online casino gambling at people’s fingertips on millions of cellphones, tablets and computers available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, when people are most vulnerable, when they’re alone.” 

Note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of James Hartmann’s name.

Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]

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