Illinois sports betting legislation was passed over the weekend and will most likely bring legal sports betting to the state. The bill will allow sports betting online and at the state’s casinos, racetracks and at larger sports facility. According to ESPN, sports betting licenses will cost the operators $10 million and are valid for four years. Operators will be taxed at 15 percent of their total revenue. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is likely to sign the bill later this month. “Today is the culmination of a tremendous amount of hard work, determination…

Caesars sports betting now operates 17 sports books across the United States, and Nevada, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in particular. The company is now eying Iowa as the next field for expansion with legislation still pending. During the quarter, Caesars landed an important partnership with DraftKings which continues to be part of the corporation’s attempts to break into new revenue streams. While adopting DraftKings’ solutions, Caesars will continue to push forth with its own branded app. There has been significant backing from the likes of NFL, Bleacher Report and a number of sports organizations. Tribal operators have been disinclined…

This past Thursday was the deadline for submitting Arkansas casino applications, and four more were submitted just in time. If approved, the applications would allow the land based gambling operation in Jefferson and Pope County under an amendment approved by voters approved last year. The newest applications came from the Cherokee Nation, Tri-Peaks Entertainment Group, Robert and Ruth Kehl Family and the Choctaw Nation. The state had previously received an application from Gulfside Casino Partnership. Only one application has been submitted for Jefferson County, from the Downstream Development Authority. The Racing Commission will consider the applications June 13. Read more…

The American Gaming Association has recognized Representative Dina Titus and Darin LaHood for her campaigns towards raising the threshold for reporting slot winnings tax from $1,200 to $5,000. Under federal law, casino patrons were previously obliged to report any slot machine winnings upwards of $1,200 or more, while the machine was removed from the casino and the patron signs a W-2G tax reporting form. Following the work of Titus and LaHood, the threshold of which patrons now have to report winnings would be pushed upwards of $5,000. Slot jackpots have gradually increased with inflation over recent years, however the $1,200…

New York sports betting is getting closer to reality, as the state Senate Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee has unanimously voted to advance a bill that would legalize in-person and mobile gambling in the state. Introduced in January by Senator Joseph Addabbo, Senate Bill 17 passed the Committee by a vote of 6-0 and will now progress forward to the Senate Finance Committee for further debate. Should the bill come into law, there would be two different tax rates for the type of bets placed in New York. casinos that secure a license would pay tax at 8.5% on gross…

Another broadcast network is taking the plunge, as an ESPN sports betting partnership has been struck with Caesars Entertainment. This deal includes the construction of a brand new ESPN-branded television studio at The LINQ Casino on the Vegas strip. There sports betting content will be blasted out on ESPN’s new sports betting show “Daily Wager.” “Daily Wager” launched in March as a daily program on ESPNews airing at 3 p.m. — also available for streaming on the ESPN app. Key to the deal is Caesars’ “data” and branding to be integrated across ESPN’s programming. This includes Caesars serving as “ESPN’s…