June 21, 2023: Bally's receives approval from the IGB to begin the process of opening a temporary casino inside the old Medinah Temple in River North. June 27, 2023: US Integrity (USI), a sports betting watchdog, partnered with the University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) to provide monitoring capabilities to and identify suspicious behavioral betting patterns. July 28, 2023: The IGB approves the Hard Rock Casino in Rockford for a retail betting licence and Betway for an online sports betting licence. 29, 2023: Circa Sports launches in Illinois, becoming the eighth online sports betting operator in the state. 26, 2023: Betway withdraws its application for an online-only sports betting license in Illinois. 14, 2023, with online sports betting going live in 17 U.S. 2, 2023: ESPN BET plans to launch on Nov. 14, 2023: ESPN BET goes live with online and mobile sports betting, launching in Illinois and 16 other states. This timeline provides a snapshot of Illinois' sports gambling history: Online sports betting arrived in June 2020 with the launch of the BetRivers sportsbook. In the spring of 2019, the Illinois state legislature passed a bill that permitted Illinois sports betting at riverboat casinos, horse racetracks, and select sports facilities.