Fanatics Going Live in Illinois

Fanatics Sportsbook, one of our best sports betting sites, has received news that the Illinois Gaming Board has finally approved the sports betting brand for a Management Services Provider license. That represents the final step for a provider toward an actual launch in the Land of Lincoln.

The Illinois launch all but completes the migration away from PointsBet USA to Fanatics USA. Illinois represents the culmination of a lot of hard work since Fanatics' $225 million purchase of PointsBet this past summer.

With a presence in the Illinois sports betting ;scene, Fanatics will have a sportsbook in 20 US states and have access to an estimated 95% of all eligible legal sports bettors in the country.

Illinois sports betting apps and New Jersey sports betting apps were the last holdouts and should be completely migrated to Fanatics Sportsbook within the next 30 days.

“The acquisition of the US businesses of PointsBet has super charged our expansion plans,” Matt King, CEO of Fanatics Betting and Gaming, said in a statement. “In addition to our migration of PointsBet customers and technology to the Fanatics Sportsbook and Casino platform, we have also added an incredibly talented team of passionate leaders from the ranks of PointsBet USA that have already made an impact on our business.”

Launch blitz

Fanatics has been on a launch blitz the last couple of months with Illinois representing the last of the states in which licensing was standing in the way of its market presence.

Last week, Kansas became a Fanatics Sportsbook destination. In the last 60 days, Fanatics has joined Indiana sports betting apps, Iowa sports betting apps, Michigan sports betting apps, New York sports betting apps, and North Carolina sports betting apps.

It has been a busy time for Fanatics brass, taking over from PointsBet and attempting to cement its name in some of America's most competitive legal sports wagering markets.

Getting the Fanatics Sportsbook app

Downloading the Fanatics Sportsbook Illinois app will be simple. It will be available for iOS at the App Store, Android at Google Play, and desktop. 

Once downloaded, Current PointsBet Illinois customers will have the opportunity to port their email, log-in information, balances, open bets, bonus bets, and reward balance to their new Fanatics Sportsbook account. This takes some of the work out of the whole sign-up procedure.

Once there, new Fanatics Sportsbook users will be eligible for $1,000 in Bonus Bets, similar to what was offered in other jurisdictions in America during the Fanatics Sportsbook launch blitz. That new user bonus will join plenty of other Illinois sportsbook promos.

Along with the Fanatics Sportsbook will come the opportunity at the company’s Rewards Program, “FanCash” which provides up to 5% Cash Back on customer bets to use for Bonus Bets later on during your Fanatics experience or for branded merchandise from Fanatics’ incomparable online store.

Competition will be tough

Fanatics Sportsbook will be the eighth Illinois sports betting site in an Illinois market that boasts all of the heavy hitters on the American scene. Hopes are that there will be enough to go around, and that the newest Illinois sports betting app can gain a reasonable market share.

In theory, there should be enough to go around. Illinois's best sportsbooks took in $1.25 billion in wagers in January alone. The problem is that PointsBet only made up 4.3% of that, or $53.2 million.

Fanatics will be out to improve upon the $586.7 million that PointsBet took in throughout 2023. With FanDuel, DraftKings, ESPN BET, BetMGM, and Caesars Sportsbook already established in the Land of Lincoln, the Fanatics brand could face tough sledding.