Wait continues for sports book at Danville casino

Illinois Gaming Board spokeswoman Beth Kaufman said the company has not yet applied “for a sports wagering license.”

Casino officials said in March that the hope was the sports book would be open in time to kick off the NFL season. Now having one in time for the playoffs appears to be in jeopardy.

The casino opened in May. Golden Nugget officials have been unavailable to comment on the delay.

While wagering on pro and college games is legal online statewide, betting in person requires physically visiting a licensed sports book.

The closest one to the area currently is the FanDuel Par-A-Dice Sportsbook in East Peoria.

The Danville casino is one of 15 in Illinois, and one of only three that don’t have sports books. The others without them are Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel in Rock Island and Walker’s Bluff Casino Resort in Carterville.

Golden Nugget Danville’s 30,426 admissions in November were the second-fewest in the state, according to figures from the gaming board.

Only Walker’s Bluff had fewer, with 19,279. Rivers Casino near O’Hare International Airport in Des Plaines topped the list with 249,253 admissions. No other casino totaled more than 100,000.

Predictably, Rivers by far topped total adjusted gross receipts last month with $43.516 million, which resulted in a state share of $14.8 million and a local share of $2.425 million.

Golden Nugget Danville’s total adjusted gross receipts hit $3.193 million, with $380,232 going to the state and $190,116 going to the city of Danville.

The casino’s receipts were the third lowest in the state last month, topping only the $2.677 million taken in by Argosy Casino in Alton and the $2.13 million taken in by Walker’s Bluff.