Illinois Gaming Board names Tekkorp as sole qualifying sports betting licensee

Tekkorp Digital Acquisition’s Caliente Interactive has been named as the only recipient of a sports betting license by the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) after two of the three applicants failed to meet the eligibility requirements.
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Tekkorp Digital Acquisition’s Caliente Interactive has been named as the only recipient of a sports betting license by the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) after two of the three applicants failed to meet the eligibility requirements.

In a meeting led by IGB’s administrator, Marcus D Fruchter, last week the board discussed the three applications made under the 2019 Illinois Gaming Act, which allowed for three sports wagering licenses. 

All applications were due to be submitted before December 3, 2021 and only three bids were received in that time. One further bid was submitted one day later and thus was deemed ineligible.

Subsequently, on February 1, one of the three applicants wrote to IGB requesting that its application was withdrawn from the process, leaving just two eligible bids at the time of the board’s meeting. 

The first bidder was revealed as Tekkorp/Caliente Interactive, which was judged to have ‘met the minimum qualifications’ and therefore qualified to move forward in the process. 

The second bidder was revealed as Fubo Gaming, which ‘failed to meet the minimum qualifications’ therefore was disqualified from the process. 

As a result fo the meeting, Tekkorp was named as the ‘lone qualified application’ and was recommended as a qualified applicant.