Illinois bettors still can't place bets on in-state participants in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, thanks to a ban that prohibits all wagers involving Prairie State teams.
Illinois began taking legal sports bets in 2020 but has prohibited bets on in-state college programs since the regulated market began. A legislative caveat that enabled legal betting banned moneyline, totals and pointspread bets on any college program that plays home games in Illinois.
Individual player prop bets on college athletes, which NCAA leaders are trying to ban nationwide, are also prohibited.
This means Illinois bettors have been unable to place bets on the University of Illinois during its recent NCAA tournament runs. They were also prohibited from wagering on Loyola Chicago during its tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022.
This ban again outlaws bets on the Illini this year. Bettors present in Illinois also can't wager on Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville, making its first March Madness appearance.
More background on Illinois betting ban
Illinois grew to become the nation’s second-largest legal sports betting market by average monthly handle but remains without legal betting options for in-state teams. Coincidently, New York and New Jersey, two of the top five other largest handle markets, also ban in-state college bets.
New Jersey, the third state to accept a legal sports bet and the epicenter of legal gaming along the East Coast, influenced a trend in nearly a dozen other states that limit or outright ban in-state college bets. Proponents argued this helps protect NCAA student-athletes, typically between ages 18-22 and technically amateur competitors, from abuse and nefarious influences.
Several states allow legal statewide mobile betting but prohibit all wagers involving in-state college teams. If you're in these states, you can't bet on the following teams:
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) March 17, 2025
Virginia: Norfolk St, Liberty, VCU
Illinois: Illinois, SIU-Edwardsville
New York: Saint John's
Advocates against the bans show that bettors in many of the states with them, which only apply to a bettor’s physical presence and not their state of residence, can cross state lines to place bets. They also argue nefarious influencers don’t care about a sportsbook’s legality and that the ban encourages corruption.
Where can Illinois bettors bet?
Illinois bettors looking to wager on in-state teams have several options to place legal bets.
Indiana is a comparatively short drive from the Chicagoland area, far and away Illinois’ largest population center. There are no college betting prohibitions (except for individual player props) and bettors can place legal mobile bets as soon as they cross the border.
Most of Illinois' 10 live legal sportsbooks also let users place bets with the same digital wallet they use at home without having to log in or out of accounts once they cross into Indiana.
Horseshoe Hammond Casino is just yards from the Illinois state line for bettors looking to place legal in-person bets. Illinois last year removed a caveat that allowed bettors to place in-person bets on in-state college teams at casinos.
To the north of Chicago, Wisconsin only allows sports bets in-person at casinos. It’s a roughly 90-mile drive from downtown Chicago to the Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee, the closest place to wager.
This will be the last NCAA Tournament where East St. Louis bettors will be unable to bet in Missouri. The Show Me State is set to launch its first online books later this year, giving bettors in Illinois’ second-largest metro area a quick trip across Mississippi River to bet on Illinois teams for the 2026 tournament.
Illinois' other neighbors, Iowa and Kentucky, both allow statewide mobile betting without restrictions on college total, moneyline or spread bets.
