LOS ANGELES, California -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Illinois residents can now place bets for the first time ever on horse races around the world at TVG.com, the largest,
legal online wagering company in the U.S. Today, the Illinois Racing Board
licensed TVG to accept wagers from Illinois residents, making this the first
time that advance deposit wagering is legal in the state.
To commemorate the occasion, TVG will provide a $50 free trial offer for
Illinois residents who create accounts at TVG.com. Additionally, TVG will
provide extensive on-track television programming live from the Hawthorne
racecourse in Chicago.
"Just in time for the Hawthorne races and Zenyatta to race in the Breeder's
Cup, Illinois' racing fans can experience the thrill of betting online at
TVG.com," said Gerard Cunningham, president of Betfair US, parent company of
TVG. "No other online wagering site offers the number of tracks, secures your
money, or engages with its community like TVG.com."
Illinois - home to a significant horse breeding industry, three Thoroughbred
and two Standardbred tracks - joins a growing number of states that have
approved online wagering on horseracing including California, New York,
Kentucky, and Maryland, among others.
The introduction of regulated online wagering in Illinois will provide an
additional revenue stream for the state's horseracing industry - including
horse owners, racetracks and horsemen's groups. For every wager placed on a
race by an Illinois resident at TVG.com, the Illinois horseracing industry
will now receive a percentage of the profits. Additionally, TVG will heavily
promote all Illinois racing on its television and wagering platforms, as well
as advertising within the state of Illinois.
"We believe that legal, regulated online betting will help reinvigorate the
horseracing industry in Illinois," said Cunningham. "The convenience of being
able to wager online, or away from home with your cell phone, will help
attract a new audience and generation to racing."
Americans have already wagered close to $6.5 billion on horseracing this year
alone, with about 10 percent of bets placed online. There are more than 55,000
races around the U.S. every year, and TVG broadcasts 27,000 races each year on
its television network.
In 2008, TVG.com accepted more than $500 million in wagers from customers
across the U.S. The TVG television network, which is broadcast into more than
33 million homes across the U.S., is already available in Illinois through
distributors including Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network and Media One. Earlier
this year, TVG and TVG.com were acquired by Betfair Ltd., the largest, legal
online wagering company in the world.