Sports Lottery Pilot Program to be Launched in Illinois

Sports Lottery in Illinois is about to become a reality for bettors. For the moment players will not be able to place other bets except parley wagers. This means that bettors will only be able to wager on the result of the many games which will then form part of one wager. Apart from Nevada, parlay cards were considered illegal in most counties in the United States. However, the practice was quite popular in office pools and pubs. Local sportsbooks were also known to offer parlay cards for betting.

If you are a bettor in Illinois and just popped in at your local retailer soon, you will also have the option of placing sports bets along with playing the lottery. Gamblers who are 21-years-old and older will have access to the sports lottery at over 5,000 gas stations as well as convenience stores in the state. This sports lottery program will be the first of its kind in the United States.

Sports Lottery: A Great Opportunity for Illinois Lottery

The general counsel of Illinois Lottery, Cornell Wilson, told the press that the department is working very hard to research and implement the program correctly. He also stated that this program provided an excellent opportunity for the lottery to increase the revenue of the state.

The rather young sports lottery program has only taken six pages of the recently launched sports gambling law in the state. Bettors will have to place parlay wagers on multiple games and can only win if they get all their predictions right.

There will be electronic kiosks at over 2,500 retailers in Illinois where gamblers can place their bets. Only 2,500 retailers have been approved for the first year of the pilot program. A further 2,500 retailers will have the opportunity to join the program in the second year.

Illinois Opens Bidding Process

Before the sports lottery pilot program is launched, the state has opened up a bidding process for interested companies. The master license for this is worth $20 million. The successful company will have to install, operate and maintain the gambling kiosks using a central network system.

Lottery executives told the media that they don’t have a specific date for when the sports lottery program will launch. The Illinois Lottery Board still has the task of drafting rules that will regulate the sports that gamblers can wager on as well as the amounts of the wagers.

See More Sports News:

Our Score

Our Reader Score

[Total: 0 Average: 0]