More than a year after receiving its license, Hard Rock Bet is now available for sports betting throughout Illinois.
Mobile betting on the Hard Rock Bet app went live Monday while in-person sports betting will begin Thursday at Hard Rock Casino Rockford, according to the release.
“We’re thrilled to be delivering the unique Hard Rock Bet mobile experience to players throughout Illinois on our award-winning app and in-person at the new Sportsbook at the amazing Hard Rock Casino Rockford,” Hard Rock Digital CEO Marlon Goldstein said.
The timing of the launch gives Hard Rock Bet a week and a half to recruit customers before NFL sportsbooks kick off Week 1 of the 2024 season.
Hard Rock Bet now in 8 states
The Illinois launch pushes the Hard Rock Bet brand into its eighth state. New Jersey is the only market that includes online casino.
The other six are only sports betting:
The most important of those states, by far, is Florida. Hard Rock Bet owns a sports betting monopoly in Florida, which Eilers & Krejcik estimates pushed the brand’s US revenue share to 4%-5% this year compared to 1% last year.
Illinois sports betting options limited by law
The Illinois sports betting market is the fourth largest in total handle and third largest by revenue in the US. It is also a tough market for operators to gain access.
There is only one sports betting license for each casino. Illinois sports betting law also allows for three mobile-only licenses, though those include a one-time fee of $20 million.
Two bidding periods each yielded one winner, Caliente and Betway. Neither launched, though, as a transaction involving Caliente did not happen and Betway parent company Super Group pulled the brand out of the US.
The licenses may be even harder to hand out now with the new scaled tax rate up to 40% in place.
Will new tax rate help Hard Rock Bet?
The new tax rate could wind up benefiting Hard Rock in the end.
Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, said the brand would offset the Illinois tax increase through marketing reductions.
DraftKings originally said it was passing the tax burden to consumers via a surcharge on winning bets, but pulled back on those plans hours after FanDuel said it would not follow suit. It too could rely on marketing reductions to moderate its costs in the state.
Fewer ads from the state’s sports betting leaders mean less noise for Hard Rock Bet to navigate while seeking to add customers.
