Illinois has not yet passed a law legalizing sports betting,but the competition for customers and market share is already fierce.

At an informational hearing on Thursday before an Illinois House committee, to discuss a package of sports betting proposals introduced a week earlier, potential Illinois sports betting competitors of FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook launched a grenade at the DFS giants-turned-sportsbooks-operators.

Paul Gaynor, a representative for the Illinois-based stakeholder/casino and would-be sportsbook operator Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, LLC, doing business as Rivers Casino, delivered the testimony that was highly critical of FanDuel and DraftKings.

Basically, Gaynor called the two companies “bad actors” for allegedly ignoring the 2015 opinion of the former Illinois Attorney General, who wrote in 2015 that “It is my opinion that the daily fantasy sports contests offered by FanDuel and DraftKings clearly constitute gambling.”

However, this opinion did/does not carry the force of law, and both companies have continued to offer DFS contests as they work with the legislature to pass a law explicitly legalizing DFS contests.

Potential Illinois sports betting competitors throw the fastball

Gaynor argued that both companies have strategically operated in a gray area and now stand to benefit, to the detriment of other potential operators, including Rivers Casino. “Without a legislative remedy, DK and FD will have a duopoly in IL as a result of their illegal actions,” Gaynor said, presuming that the duo would wax other Illinois sportsbooks.

“That’s what they did in New Jersey,” Gaynor said, noting that “DK and FD booked 85% of all bets in New Jersey in January 2019. The pair have indeed dominated the mobile sports betting market in the Garden State.

In effect, this fifth amendment, sponsored by Rep. Bob Rita and submitted on Monday, would block DK and FD from obtaining a license to operate in the state.

“We thought [the amendment] was worth filing because it creates a dialogue about the black market,” Rep. Mike Zalewski, another key figure in the Illinois sports betting legalization movement, told Sports Handle.

Illinois is a potential humongous market for sports betting. It’s the sixth most populous state, between Pennsylvania, which has legalized, and Ohio, which is in talks to get it done. So this maneuvering by Rivers and its co-owners Rush Street and Churchill Downs, which have assets in PA and other states, comes as no surprise.

DraftKings and FanDuel, which did not testify at this hearing, had plenty to say about the attempt to block out the pair.

“Amendment 5 is a blatant attempt to restrict competition and specifically box out potential operators they know will be major draws for consumers seeking out the best possible legal mobile sports betting experience,” DraftKings Director of Global Affairs, James Chisholm, told Sports Handle. “Establishing an artificial, restrictive market will only ensure that many Illinois residents will continue to bet through illegal offshore websites that offer no consumer protections, no responsible gaming measures and generate no revenue for the state.”

FanDuel addressed the amendment, too.

“We have been operating openly and honestly in Illinois since we began offering fantasy contests,” said Cory Fox, FanDuel’s counsel for policy and government affairs, told The Chicago Tribune.

To this point, it isn’t clear how much actual support the “bad actor” amendment has within the legislature.

What Illinois sports betting might look like

First off, consider the findings of this Simon poll of Illinois residents, released on March 26, reported by Sun-Times:

Poll takers were asked specifically about legalizing gambling on sporting events. About 63 percent favored or strongly favored the expansion, while 33 percent said they opposed legalized gambling on sports events. It was heavily favored in Chicago, where 72 percent said they supported it and only 26 percent opposed it

Reps. Zalewski and Rita are seeing the revenue and market that’s been produced in New Jersey so far. And they want it for Illinois as the black market is alive and very well. Put simply, people want sports betting!

The four amendments introduced the week before would take varying approaches and were nicknamed “New Jersey,” “Mississippi,” “Lottery” and “Leagues,” indicating which models and stakeholder interests they best represent.

For the sports bettors, New Jersey would be best outcome: more competition and remote registration for the sake of signing up at multiple sportsbooks without having to traverse the state to appear in person, which technologically is completely unnecessary.

Rep. Zalewski’s goal is to build a consensus in the House as quickly as possible in an effort to get legislation onto Governor J.B. Pritzker’s desk by late May. Pritzker has called on the legislature to legalize sports betting this session and went so far as to include revenue from it in his budget.

Will DraftKings and FanDuel have any support in their corner in a fight back against Amendment 5? This is one area where the pro leagues and FD/DK are actually aligned – as some of the leagues have made investments in the companies.

“We have a partnership with FanDuel and they’re licensed in many states right now, including in New Jersey,” said NBA executive Dan Spillane, in his testimony. “I wouldn’t see any reason for them not to be similarly licensed in other states where they apply.”

We also think gaming and entertainment powerhouse Caesars may now take their gloves off; DK and Caesars cut a deal in late February giving Caesars a stake in DK in a deal designed to put DraftKings in markets across the country.

Certainly Illinois would be high on that list.