In advance of Super Bowl Sunday, the Illinois Gaming Board Thursday issued more than 60 cease-and-desist letters to illegal online gambling companies, demanding that they immediately block Illinois residents from accessing their websites and stop offering them prizes.
Operators who fail to comply may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.
The letters aim to eliminate competition for legal gambling in Illinois, which generated $2.2 billion in tax revenue for the state in fiscal year 2025.
The action comes as the legal gambling industry has been complaining that the state’s new per-wager tax on sports betting is driving gamblers to unlicensed websites.
There has been a 15% drop in the number of bets placed since Illinois instituted the tax of 25 to 50 cents per bet in the fall, state records show — but an increase in the amount of money bet, as players make fewer but bigger wagers.
Fans are expected to set records for sports wagering for the upcoming Super Bowl, but the Sports Betting Alliance, which represents the legal gambling industry, warns that bookies and betting sites are taking a bigger slice of the action.
“Illinois’ recent tax hikes are undercutting the protections of the legal market, sending players to cheaper, riskier and predatory illegal options instead,” the alliance said in a statement.
Law enforcement authorities are trying to respond to the growing online market.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul was part of a recent request by 50 state attorneys general nationwide for the U.S. Department of Justice to take action against the illegal market because of the impact on consumers.
He warned that illegal online betting is largely operated by foreign companies that sometimes refuse to pay winnings, fail to verify the age of users, and don’t pay taxes.
The Better Business Bureau also recently reported that more illegal gaming sites are scamming consumers out of their money and exposing their data to hackers. Gamblers lodged more than 10,000 complaints to the BBB from 2022 to mid-2025.
The bureau advises gamblers to beware promises of big payouts, tempting ads with no details, sweepstakes-style games, overseas business locations and payment through cryptocurrency.
The American Gaming Association estimates illegal online gaming exceeds more than $400 billion in volume annually, leading to more than $4 billion in lost tax revenue for states.
Whether the companies comply with the cease and desist orders remains to be seen. The Tennessee attorney general recently reported that all 40 sweepstakes casinos that it contacted did agree to shut down their operations there.
