One of the more underrated developments of the 21st century is that elevator music isn’t really elevator music anymore. Nowadays, when stepping into a vertical trolley, you’re just as likely to hear the hip harmonies of HAIM or boygenius as you are to be greeted by a saxophone solo.
But anyone who’s tuned into the Illinois Gaming Board’s monthly meeting livestream knows that this government agency holds fast to the traditional definition of elevator music, which is piped to the online public prior to kickoff.
Shifting from the gridiron to the diamond, a day after the NFL’s Bears formally unveiled plans for a multibillion-dollar stadium project on the downtown Chicago lakefront, the IGB voted unanimously to grant Northside Crown Gaming, a DraftKings subsidiary, a four-year master sports wagering license to offer retail betting at its sportsbook outside the city’s oldest professional sporting venue, Wrigley Field.
The license will be subject to review and reapproval in 2028, as will Northside Crown’s management services provider license, which allows DraftKings to offer mobile wagering alongside its retail product. That license, and a similar one afforded another DraftKings subsidiary, Crown IL Gaming, were unanimously approved by the IGB on Thursday.
Crown IL Gaming is the entity DraftKings formed to operate a sportsbook at East St. Louis’ Casino Queen when retail sports betting launched in Illinois in March of 2020. BetRivers was the first to go live with a mobile betting app in June of that year, with DraftKings and FanDuel following suit under temporary licenses two months later.
DraftKings’ sportsbook at Wrigley Field began taking in-person bets in March after opening for food and beverage service last summer.
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