Prominent online sportsbook operators FanDuel Group and DraftKings Incorporated have reportedly been granted temporary licenses to begin offering their services to punters in the American state of Illinois.

According to separate Monday reports from the domains at SportsHandle.com and LegalSportsReport.com, the awards from the Illinois Gaming Board come after Governor Jay Robert Pritzker signed an executive order last month invalidating a stipulation that had previously required local sportsbetting punters to sign up in person via a land-based venue before being able to place an online wager. The sources detailed that the Democratic leader took this step in an attempt to save an important source of tax revenues even as casinos across ‘The Prairie State’ were being shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Initial assistance:

The domains reported that Pritzker’s move is provisional although FanDuel Group and DraftKings Incorporated are likely to have been given a massive advantage over the ensuing competition as the big-spending pair will be able to keep any customers recruited during this interim period.

Quintuple competitors:

SportsHandle.com and LegalSportsReport.com reported that the awards mean that Illinois now has five legitimate sportsbetting operators as PointsBet Holdings Proprietary Limited recently joined the land-based sportsbooks inside the Rivers Casino Des Plains from Rush Street Gaming and Penn National Gaming Incorporated’s Argosy Casino Alton in being awarded with sports wagering licenses. These latter two are purportedly the only to have gone live while area online punters have so far been restricted to the BetRivers service from Rush Street Interactive.

Licensing lag:

The sources reported that PointsBet Holdings Proprietary Limited is still waiting for its Hawthorne Race Course land-based partner to be licensed for online sportsbetting while FanDuel Group is said to mulling over whether to purchase the Midwestern state’s Fairmount Park horseracing track in order to gain access to the lucrative Illinois market.

Expected entry:

All of this reportedly means that DraftKings Incorporated could soon become the latest operator to start offering online sportsbetting entertainment to aficionados in Illinois as its own Casino Queen associate was one of only seven local venues to have been awarded with a master sports wagering license by the Illinois Gaming Board.

Reportedly read a statement from DraftKings Incorporated…

“We can confirm that we received our temporary operating permit in Illinois, which brings us one step closer to going live in the state. We look forward to continuing to work with the Illinois Gaming Board towards being able to offer Illinois’ sports fans our top-rated sportsbook platform to wager on their favorite sports, teams and players.”