Digital Wager Wire highlights the most significant events affecting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industries each week throughout the year.
Mobile Sports Betting One Step Closer in South Dakota
South Dakota is one of the few states that has launched retail sports betting, but not the far more lucrative digital application. Since September 2021, tribal casinos across the state and commercial casinos in Deadwood have permitted in-person sports bets. Despite numerous attempts to approve mobile sports betting, all have failed thus far.
Mobile Sports Betting Bill Advances
However, this year could be different. Senator Casey Crabtree’s Senate Joint Resolution 504, a measure to amend the state constitution to allow mobile sports betting, was recently approved 23-10 in the state Senate. The bill now advances to the House, and should it pass in the lower chamber, the decision would be left to the voters in November.
Tax Revenue Plan
According to the bill, 90% of the tax revenue generated would be directed to reducing property taxes, which would serve as a powerful platform to convince South Dakotans to approve the measure at the voting booths.
Crabtree argued in favor of his bill, saying, “The proposal in front of you is about property tax relief. It ultimately puts more money in the pockets of hard-working South Dakotans. This revenue is already being generated in our state, but it is leaving our borders and going to the benefit of surrounding states.”
Fellow Republican Senator Steve Kolbeck echoed Crabtree’s remarks, stating, “This is us having revenue out there that we’re not collecting; just like when Amazon was new, we had to go get that (state tax collected by online out-of-state retailers). We had to adjust as a state. Now we have this situation that this body needs to react to and adjust to so that revenue can come back into our state coffers.”
Is iGaming Coming to Illinois?
The Prairie State is one of the most robust mobile sports betting markets, and it could soon join the eight other states that have adopted online casino gambling. Representative Edgar González Jr.’s House Bill 3080 last year was one of several unsuccessful attempts.
However, Gonzalez is back in the ring to take another swing this year with HB 4797, also known as the Internet Gaming Act. This latest House iGaming measure includes the following:
- A 25% tax rate on iGaming’s adjusted gross revenues
- Any of the state’s 17 land-based casino license holders would be eligible for an iGaming license and could partner with up to three approved third-party platforms.
- A $250,000 prorated license fee is tied to the land-based operator’s retail casino license timeline. Renewals would cost $100,000, but they would preclude any casino that cut 25% of its workforce beginning in February 2020.
- In addition, suppliers would be charged a $75,000 application fee, while internet management service providers would pay $50,000.
Meanwhile, a companion bill in the Senate, SB 3723, was also introduced shortly before the deadline. Attorney General Kwame Raoul has also publicly endorsed iGaming legislation, calling it not a matter of “if” but “when.”
