The states of Illinois and Michigan will both get an opportunity to offer their residents legal sports betting. However, the bettors will have to go to the nearest casino to place bets on their favorite sports.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGBC) made an official announcement on Friday, stating that three commercial casinos would be able to start offering onsite sports betting. The official starting date is going to be Wednesday when the casinos will all open their doors to sports betting enthusiasts at 1 pm.
The MGBC cannot make any decisions regarding tribal casinos as it doesn’t have any power over them. Therefore, it is expected that the tribal casinos make their own sports betting plans for the future and announce them to the public very soon.
The MGBC decided to provide three licenses for three commercial casinos on Tuesday. It happened right after each of the operators made individual presentations that took place at a public meeting. The provisional licenses for betting kiosk providers have already been issued by the MGBC.
One of the casinos that is making preparations big time is MGM Grand Detroit, which is operated by MGM Resorts. The casino already has two rows of betting kiosks installed, and they are located right in front of the Moneyline Sports Lounge.
The property opened a couple of months ago, and it was one step towards preparing for the big start of sports betting activities.
MGM Grand Detroit made an announcement to invite “local sports legends” who would join in the official launch that is supposed to take place on March 11. Many sportsbooks all over the US actually followed a similar pattern of inviting former athletes to place inaugural bets on the sports they used to play, so we could expect something similar to take place in MGM Grand Detroit’s sports betting section.
Illinois Prepares for Sports Betting Big Time
The state of Illinois seems to be racing with Michigan on which one will be the first to open a sportsbook. As a matter of fact, bettors in Illinois will be able to place onsite bets starting Monday. So far, the Illinois Gaming Board has given the green light for the betting to commence, and everyone hopes that there will be no further obstacles down the road.
The ceremonial opening at Rivers Casino, which is located in Des Plaines, will take place on Monday at 10 am. The property will present its BetRivers Sportsbook, which will open its doors to the visitors starting at noon on Monday.
This property also decided to bring a former athlete to open the sportsbook. This time, it will be a former Chicago Blackhawks player who currently works as a broadcaster for hockey, Eddie Olczyk.
He will have the honor of placing the initial wager in this sportsbook. He will be able to do that either by going to one of the five betting windows or use one of the 30 automated betting kiosks.
Although only Rivers Casino is having an official opening, it is definitely not the only property to want a license for sports betting. As a matter of fact, a total of six casinos in the state want to launch a sportsbook, but others are yet to say what they have in plan when it comes to sports betting.
Online betting was also allowed in Illinois, and BetRivers would launch its site and mobile app later this year. However, the officials did not specify any exact dates about the possible launch.
