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Usually when it comes to Illinois sports betting news, things have been pretty gravy over the past few months. However, there’s been a shake-up in things because of what’s going on with the local government. Right now, lawmakers and officials are trying to create more money for the government to have at their disposal. With that said, Illinois sportsbooks are fighting against a massive sports betting tax hike that Governor J.B. Pritzker is trying to get done. What will end up going down?
In case you missed it, Pritzker is trying to increase the sports betting tax from 15 percent to 35 percent. Experts believe this will provide the state with around $200 million more to work with. However, that’s a hike of 20 percent and sportsbook operators are not happy about this at all. Around the USA, the typical sports betting tax is set at around 10-15 percent. Having a number as high as 35 percent has angered a lot of people.
Plenty of Chicago sports fans don’t agree with this decision, but Pritzker isn’t backing down from trying to make this happen. This is clearly impacting the relationship with sportsbooks in the state, which is not a good thing moving forward. In Illinois, there are no major in-person sportsbooks/casinos in the downtown Chicago area, but the hope is that will change within the next few years.
Having said that, if sportsbooks are upset with the state, they’re not going to be in any kind of rush to try and work with a local Chicago casino once it’s under operation. This is something that a lot of people are keeping in mind as Pritzker continues to push for 35 percent. It will be interesting to see how things go down here, but it sure looks like sportsbooks aren’t going to go down without a fight. They’re even reaching out to the public to try and prevent this from happening.
NBA betting will be strong with the postseason here
On a more positive note, there’s no question that NBA betting will be strong with the postseason here. The Chicago Bulls are in the play-in tournament and while they don’t have strong NBA betting odds to win it all this year, that doesn’t mean that hoops fans aren’t going to be paying close attention to things. On the East side of things, the Boston Celtics hold the No. 1 seed and they have the best NBA Finals betting odds.
Over on the West side, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the No. 1 seed, but the Denver Nuggets are right behind them at No. 2. With the Bulls, this team hasn’t come close to matching the success from the days of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, but there’s still a lot of young talent on the squad. Looking at the Celtics and Nuggets, though, those are the two teams that people think will end up battling for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Win or go home. All the chips are on the table. pic.twitter.com/Y7HlGvfu3n
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) April 17, 2024
People can’t wait to see how things go down, but there could be some big-time upsets on the way too. The Miami Heat, a rival of the Bulls, are a team to watch. Also, another Chicago rival is no question New York, as the Knicks have entered the postseason with a ton of confidence. The Knicks are hoping to go on a deep run and potentially get back to the NBA Finals. It won’t be easy, but you never know how far they’ll be able to go.
All in all, this is one of the best times of the year for basketball supporters in the state, especially with the NCAA Tournament being so much fun to watch over the past few weeks. UConn won the title and while people in Illinois aren’t huge fans of the Huskies, something tells us that people won a decent amount of money betting on them to win it all again. Now, let’s see how things go for bettors with the NBA postseason taking center stage.
Cubs and White Sox betting is off to a strong start as well
Elsewhere, it’s important to remember that Cubs and White Sox betting is off to a strong start as well. From the moment the season kicked off for the two teams, baseball fans in Illinois raced to check the MLB betting odds for these two teams. That’s going to be the case for the rest of the spring and then in the summer and fall. With the Cubs in particular, people can’t wait to see what this team can do in the NL Central.
.@ihapp_1's first homer of the season is a grand one. 😎
Cubs lead 11-8! pic.twitter.com/QaLxZcHdaN
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 17, 2024
The Cubbies have been in a bit of a rebuild, but some of their better players have gained valuable experience. Now, the hope is that they’ll be able to put things together for breakout campaigns in 2024. The White Sox are also a young squad, but they’re loaded with potential. We’re going to have to wait and see how the April betting numbers look, but if they’re quite strong, you better believe that baseball betting will be playing a major role in that potential outcome.
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