Rosemont Illinois’ Allstate Arena Looking For A Sportsbook

• Once Illinois sports betting is in full swing, it is estimated to have a revenue stream of almost $2.7 billion a year.
• The Illinois Gaming Board has opened its email lines for public opinions on things they’d like to see for sportsbooks.
• The Village of Rosemont is preparing for the inevitable greenlight by fielding sportsbook proposals.

CHICAGO – The Village of Rosemont is looking to have a sports betting facility tied to the Allstate Arena, home of the NHL Chicago Wolves as soon as possible.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker legalized wagering on sporting events at the end of June when he signed bills IL S.B. 1939 and IL S.B. 690 into law. The law stipulates that sportsbooks could be opened within the stadiums of professional sports teams or at a location within a radius of five blocks of the venues.

The Illinois Gaming Board has not yet created any rules or regulations for sports betting licenses. Instead, they are seeking ideas from the public as to what they think everything should entail. The public forum closes on September 27.

After that, the board will begin to ink out the details for potential applicants. Applications for licenses have not yet been accepted by any sports betting operators.

Meanwhile, the Village wants to be as prepared as possible for when the time comes. Rosemont has created its own committee to be head up by John Donahue, a Village attorney. Spokesman Gary Mack says the purpose of the committee is to make sure everything is done in the correct manner.

“Rosemont isn’t going into this helter-skelter,” said Mack. “The whole thing was precipitated by there being a number of entities and companies that have expressed some interest. The village isn’t in a position to field those, so we wanted to assemble a group that could do it properly and seek input, hopefully from the gaming board as well.”

The Village Board Committee will go over proposals from different gaming companies to choose the one they feel is the best fit to operate a sports betting lounge for the Allstate Arena area. They want to work with the right sportsbook to help in guiding them through the application process once applications become available per a committee statement.

The city would love to have sports betting available in time for the Super Bowl however, there has been no set timeline given by the Gaming Board. Rules about how long the application process will take as well as the application itself have not yet been released.

Once all is said and done, one thing is for sure, the Village of Rosemont will be prepared with all of the proper information to make having a sportsbook for the Allstate Arena a reality.

News tags: Allstate Arena | Chicago | Chicago Wolves | Gary Mack | Illinois Gaming Board | J.B. Pritzker | John Donahue | NHL | Rosemont | Super Bowl | Village Board Committee