On August 21st, Governor J.B. Pritzker reissued the order suspending the in-person registration, allowing players in Illinois to sign up for online sports betting account without travelling to a physical location.
The order for remote registration will be in force until September 19 at the earliest. It had been implemented from June 4th and was due to be in force as long as Illinois’ Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamations were in place.
These proclamations, setting out measures to tackle the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, saw the state’s land-based casinos shuttered from March 16, making in-person registration impossible.
The last proclamation ended July 26 – after casinos reopened at 50% capacity from July 1 – though at the time Pritzker did not reissue the order.
While in-person registration would have significantly benefited online sportsbooks partnered with physical outlets in the Chicago metropolitan area, such as PointsBet, others including DraftKings, in more remote locations, faced having access to customers significantly reduced.
However, at a time when rising numbers of Covid-19 cases have prompted new restrictions on opening hours in the Metro East region of Illinois – covering DraftKings’ sportsbook at Casino Queen in the Greater St. Louis area – players will once again be able to register online.
The state’s sports betting market went live on 9 March, days before Covid-19 shut down sporting events around the world.
Per the Sports Wagering Act signed into law by Pritzker in July 2019, licensees must have players register in-person for the first 18 months of operation