ILLINOIS (25News Now) - Illinois residents who bet on sports online or on smartphones will see an extra fee put in place before the start of the NFL regular season in September.
Thursday, DraftKings announced that all Illinois online and mobile bets will face a transaction fee. They join FanDuel, which made a similar announcement earlier in the week.
This all ties into the state budget. Lawmakers were looking for extra funding sources to satisfy a $55 billion spending plan, which led to higher taxes on sports betting.
While Governor JB Pritzker hasn’t officially signed the budget into law, companies are already looking to pass that cost onto consumers.
Both companies will pass taxes proposed by the Illinois General Assembly onto consumers, with $0.50 fees for every transaction starting September 1.
“We are disappointed that the Illinois Transaction Fee will disproportionately impact lower wagering recreational customers while also punishing those operators who have invested the most to grow the online regulated market in the state,” said Peter Jackson, the CEO of FanDuel’s parent company, Flutter, in a written statement.
“We also believe the introduction of the Illinois Transaction Fee will likely motivate some Illinois-based customers to bet with unregulated operators. These operators do not contribute tax revenue to the state,” he continued.
The Illinois Gaming Board said they are reviewing FanDuel’s fee.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins issued a similar statement.
“We are disappointed that Illinois policymakers have chosen to more than triple our tax rate over the past two years, and we are very concerned about what this will do to the legal, regulated industry. Meanwhile, Illinois continues to fuel the rapidly growing illegal industry, which pays no taxes or fees and provides none of the consumer protections that regulated operators offer,” he said.
One person 25News spoke to today said he doesn’t support tax increases that led to the fee. He thinks high taxes will push people out of Illinois.
“I actually used to live in Florida, and moving out of the state is starting to sound good again. It’s really affected my family, myself, and a lot of my coworkers and friends,” said Washington resident KD Ball.
While Ball is discouraged by the tax increases, another passerby told 25News that most people lose anyway, so they don’t think an extra fee will have a large effect.
Both FanDuel and DraftKings said that they would immediately remove the extra fees if the state government stopped the tax.
The fees won’t apply to in-person betting like the sportsbook at Par-A-Dice Casino.
There are 10 legal online sportsbooks in Illinois, but it’s not clear if the remaining companies will also add a fee.
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