Bill Text: IL SB2478 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Sports Betting Consumer Protection Act. Authorizes a State agency or entity charged by law with enforcing the Act, unless prohibited under federal law and as otherwise provided by State law, to adopt rules which prohibit or authorize sports betting or electronic sports betting by an electronic sports betting patron or sports betting facility patron through an electronic sports betting account on an electronic sports betting platform or other means with an electronic sports betting licensee or sports betting facility licensee. Allows the State agency to also require reporting of sports betting adjusted gross receipts to it by electronic sports betting licensees or sports betting facility licensees. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Exempts activities authorized under the Sports Betting Consumer Protection Act from gambling offenses.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-09 - Session Sine Die [SB2478 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-SB2478-Introduced.html

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100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 SB2478 Introduced 1/30/2018, by Sen. Don Harmon SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
720 ILCS 5/28-1 from Ch. 38, par. 28-1
720 ILCS 5/28-3 from Ch. 38, par. 28-3
Creates the Sports Betting Consumer Protection Act. Authorizes a State agency or entity charged by law with enforcing the Act, unless prohibited under federal law and as otherwise provided by State law, to adopt rules which prohibit or authorize sports betting or electronic sports betting by an electronic sports betting patron or sports betting facility patron through an electronic sports betting account on an electronic sports betting platform or other means with an electronic sports betting licensee or sports betting facility licensee. Allows the State agency to also require reporting of sports betting adjusted gross receipts to it by electronic sports betting licensees or sports betting facility licensees. Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Exempts activities authorized under the Sports Betting Consumer Protection Act from gambling offenses.
LRB100 18595 MRW 33895 b
CORRECTIONAL BUDGET AND IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
SB2478 LRB100 18595 MRW 33895 b
AN ACT concerning sports betting.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Sports
Betting Consumer Protection Act.
Section 5. Legislative intent.
The General Assembly hereby finds and declares that:
(1) Sports betting is currently illegal in the United
States under federal law, but that may be subject to change
in 2018 due to court action. In 1992, the United States
Congress passed the Professional and Amateur Sports
Protection Act that made sports wagering illegal in all
states except the following 4 states that were
grandfathered because they had laws permitting sports
wagering at that time: Oregon, Delaware, Montana, and
Nevada. On December 4, 2017, the United States Supreme
Court heard oral arguments in the case of Christie vs. the
National Collegiate Athletic Association. The State of New
Jersey filed the case to question the constitutionality of
the federal law. The Court will likely issue its opinion in
2018. If the Court decides the federal law is
unconstitutional, sports betting companies will likely
rush to market with online and brick and mortar sports

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betting products to capture a piece of the presently
illegal sports betting market in the United States.
(2) There are estimates that Americans spend
$400,000,000,000 annually on illegal sports betting.
Industry experts estimate that a licensed sports betting
market in the United States will have revenues of between
$175,000,000,000 and $225,000,000,000 annually. Illinois,
by population, is roughly 4% of the United States market.
If sports betting is declared legal by the United States
Supreme Court, Illinoisans could be betting between
$7,000,000,000 and $16,000,000,000 annually with no
regulation of the industry and no protections for Illinois
consumers. The Criminal Code of 2012 does include certain
prohibitions on gambling, but does not specifically
prohibit sports betting. Because the effectiveness of the
Criminal Code of 2012 is in question and because the
illegal sports betting market is already operating in this
State, and in light of possible action by the United States
Supreme Court, it should be the intent of the General
Assembly to enact into law provisions that either clearly
prohibit sports betting or that legalize, limit, and
control sports betting with strong consumer protections
to, among other things, ensure that minors cannot place
sports bets and provide problem gamblers access to the help
they need. If sports betting became authorized in this
State by virtue of United States Supreme Court action and

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subsequent legislation, the State law should also address
any legitimate fiscal needs of this State. If sports
betting were to become legal by way of United States
Supreme Court action alone, an entirely unregulated sports
betting industry would not be in the best interests of the
people of this State.
Section 10. Definitions.
As used in this Act:
"Board" means the State agency or entity charged by law
with the enforcement of this Act.
"Electronic sports betting" means sports betting when a bet
is placed by an electronic sports betting patron on the
electronic sports betting platform of an electronic sports
betting licensee.
"Electronic sports betting account" means an account
initiated by an electronic sports betting patron and held by an
electronic sports betting licensee to facilitate electronic
sports betting.
"Electronic sports betting licensee" means a sports
betting facility licensee licensed by the Board to conduct
electronic sports betting.
"Electronic sports betting patron" means any natural
person who has an electronic sports betting account with an
electronic sports betting licensee.
"Electronic sports betting platform" means how an

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electronic sports betting patron accesses an electronic sports
betting licensee's services.
"Sports betting" means the legal placement of a bet on a
professional or collegiate sports activity or event, or
international sports competition.
"Sports betting adjusted gross receipts" means the total of
cash and cash equivalents received from sports betting less the
total amount of cash or cash equivalents paid to sports betting
facility patrons and electronic sports betting patrons for
winning sports betting.
"Sports betting facility" means a physical location within
this State that is licensed to conduct sports betting.
"Sports betting facility licensee" means any entity
licensed by the Board to conduct sports betting at a sports
betting facility.
"Sports betting facility patron" means any natural person
who is not a minor and who is not otherwise prohibited from
placing a bet at a sports betting facility.
Section 15. Board action regarding sports betting.
Unless prohibited under federal law and as otherwise provided
by State law, the Board may adopt rules which prohibit or
authorize sports betting or electronic sports betting by an
electronic sports betting patron or sports betting facility
patron through an electronic sports betting account on an
electronic sports betting platform or other means with an

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electronic sports betting licensee or sports betting facility
licensee. The Board may require reporting of sports betting
adjusted gross receipts to it by electronic sports betting
licensees or sports betting facility licensees.
Section 105. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by
changing Sections 28-1 and 28-3 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/28-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 28-1)
Sec. 28-1. Gambling.
(a) A person commits gambling when he or she:
(1) knowingly plays a game of chance or skill for money
or other thing of value, unless excepted in subsection (b)
of this Section;
(2) knowingly makes a wager upon the result of any
game, contest, or any political nomination, appointment or
election;
(3) knowingly operates, keeps, owns, uses, purchases,
exhibits, rents, sells, bargains for the sale or lease of,
manufactures or distributes any gambling device;
(4) contracts to have or give himself or herself or
another the option to buy or sell, or contracts to buy or
sell, at a future time, any grain or other commodity
whatsoever, or any stock or security of any company, where
it is at the time of making such contract intended by both
parties thereto that the contract to buy or sell, or the

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option, whenever exercised, or the contract resulting
therefrom, shall be settled, not by the receipt or delivery
of such property, but by the payment only of differences in
prices thereof; however, the issuance, purchase, sale,
exercise, endorsement or guarantee, by or through a person
registered with the Secretary of State pursuant to Section
8 of the Illinois Securities Law of 1953, or by or through
a person exempt from such registration under said Section
8, of a put, call, or other option to buy or sell
securities which have been registered with the Secretary of
State or which are exempt from such registration under
Section 3 of the Illinois Securities Law of 1953 is not
gambling within the meaning of this paragraph (4);
(5) knowingly owns or possesses any book, instrument or
apparatus by means of which bets or wagers have been, or
are, recorded or registered, or knowingly possesses any
money which he has received in the course of a bet or
wager;
(6) knowingly sells pools upon the result of any game
or contest of skill or chance, political nomination,
appointment or election;
(7) knowingly sets up or promotes any lottery or sells,
offers to sell or transfers any ticket or share for any
lottery;
(8) knowingly sets up or promotes any policy game or
sells, offers to sell or knowingly possesses or transfers

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any policy ticket, slip, record, document or other similar
device;
(9) knowingly drafts, prints or publishes any lottery
ticket or share, or any policy ticket, slip, record,
document or similar device, except for such activity
related to lotteries, bingo games and raffles authorized by
and conducted in accordance with the laws of Illinois or
any other state or foreign government;
(10) knowingly advertises any lottery or policy game,
except for such activity related to lotteries, bingo games
and raffles authorized by and conducted in accordance with
the laws of Illinois or any other state;
(11) knowingly transmits information as to wagers,
betting odds, or changes in betting odds by telephone,
telegraph, radio, semaphore or similar means; or knowingly
installs or maintains equipment for the transmission or
receipt of such information; except that nothing in this
subdivision (11) prohibits transmission or receipt of such
information for use in news reporting of sporting events or
contests; or
(12) knowingly establishes, maintains, or operates an
Internet site that permits a person to play a game of
chance or skill for money or other thing of value by means
of the Internet or to make a wager upon the result of any
game, contest, political nomination, appointment, or
election by means of the Internet. This item (12) does not

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apply to activities referenced in items (6) and (6.1) of
subsection (b) of this Section.
(b) Participants in any of the following activities shall
not be convicted of gambling:
(1) Agreements to compensate for loss caused by the
happening of chance including without limitation contracts
of indemnity or guaranty and life or health or accident
insurance.
(2) Offers of prizes, award or compensation to the
actual contestants in any bona fide contest for the
determination of skill, speed, strength or endurance or to
the owners of animals or vehicles entered in such contest.
(3) Pari-mutuel betting as authorized by the law of
this State.
(4) Manufacture of gambling devices, including the
acquisition of essential parts therefor and the assembly
thereof, for transportation in interstate or foreign
commerce to any place outside this State when such
transportation is not prohibited by any applicable Federal
law; or the manufacture, distribution, or possession of
video gaming terminals, as defined in the Video Gaming Act,
by manufacturers, distributors, and terminal operators
licensed to do so under the Video Gaming Act.
(5) The game commonly known as "bingo", when conducted
in accordance with the Bingo License and Tax Act.
(6) Lotteries when conducted by the State of Illinois

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in accordance with the Illinois Lottery Law. This exemption
includes any activity conducted by the Department of
Revenue to sell lottery tickets pursuant to the provisions
of the Illinois Lottery Law and its rules.
(6.1) The purchase of lottery tickets through the
Internet for a lottery conducted by the State of Illinois
under the program established in Section 7.12 of the
Illinois Lottery Law.
(7) Possession of an antique slot machine that is
neither used nor intended to be used in the operation or
promotion of any unlawful gambling activity or enterprise.
For the purpose of this subparagraph (b)(7), an antique
slot machine is one manufactured 25 years ago or earlier.
(8) Raffles and poker runs when conducted in accordance
with the Raffles and Poker Runs Act.
(9) Charitable games when conducted in accordance with
the Charitable Games Act.
(10) Pull tabs and jar games when conducted under the
Illinois Pull Tabs and Jar Games Act.
(11) Gambling games conducted on riverboats when
authorized by the Riverboat Gambling Act.
(12) Video gaming terminal games at a licensed
establishment, licensed truck stop establishment, licensed
fraternal establishment, or licensed veterans
establishment when conducted in accordance with the Video
Gaming Act.

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(13) Games of skill or chance where money or other
things of value can be won but no payment or purchase is
required to participate.
(14) Savings promotion raffles authorized under
Section 5g of the Illinois Banking Act, Section 7008 of the
Savings Bank Act, Section 42.7 of the Illinois Credit Union
Act, Section 5136B of the National Bank Act (12 U.S.C.
25a), or Section 4 of the Home Owners' Loan Act (12 U.S.C.
1463).
(15) Authorized activities under the Sports Betting
Consumer Protection Act or rules adopted under that Act.
(c) Sentence.
Gambling is a Class A misdemeanor. A second or subsequent
conviction under subsections (a)(3) through (a)(12), is a Class
4 felony.
(d) Circumstantial evidence.
In prosecutions under this Section circumstantial evidence
shall have the same validity and weight as in any criminal
prosecution.
(Source: P.A. 98-644, eff. 6-10-14; 99-149, eff. 1-1-16.)
(720 ILCS 5/28-3) (from Ch. 38, par. 28-3)
Sec. 28-3. Keeping a Gambling Place. A "gambling place" is
any real estate, vehicle, boat or any other property whatsoever
used for the purposes of gambling other than gambling conducted
in the manner authorized by the Riverboat Gambling Act, Sports

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Betting Consumer Protection Act, or the Video Gaming Act. Any
person who knowingly permits any premises or property owned or
occupied by him or under his control to be used as a gambling
place commits a Class A misdemeanor. Each subsequent offense is
a Class 4 felony. When any premises is determined by the
circuit court to be a gambling place:
(a) Such premises is a public nuisance and may be proceeded
against as such, and
(b) All licenses, permits or certificates issued by the
State of Illinois or any subdivision or public agency thereof
authorizing the serving of food or liquor on such premises
shall be void; and no license, permit or certificate so
cancelled shall be reissued for such premises for a period of
60 days thereafter; nor shall any person convicted of keeping a
gambling place be reissued such license for one year from his
conviction and, after a second conviction of keeping a gambling
place, any such person shall not be reissued such license, and
(c) Such premises of any person who knowingly permits
thereon a violation of any Section of this Article shall be
held liable for, and may be sold to pay any unsatisfied
judgment that may be recovered and any unsatisfied fine that
may be levied under any Section of this Article.
(Source: P.A. 96-34, eff. 7-13-09.)