DraftKings Discontinuing Wrigley Field SportsBook May 31
Just two years after opening a massive venue attached to Wrigley Field as part of a 10-year, $100 million partnership, the DraftKings Sportsbook is shutting down. Citing Illinois’ increased taxes on wagering, DraftKings felt it could no longer successfully maintain that portion of the business. The venue will remain open as a bar, but the last day to place in-person bets will be May 31.
Illinois raised the tax rate to 40% for large retail sports betting outlets in 2024, then added a per-bet tax of 25 cents last year. That tax doubles once a sportsbook accepts more than 20 million bets in a year. In January, Chicago added a 10.25% tax on gross sports betting receipts for wagers placed at sportsbooks within the city, which certainly didn’t help.
“DraftKings has made the decision to discontinue onsite sportsbook operations at DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field following a review of our retail presence in Illinois,” read a statement from the company. “The venue itself will remain open, but in-person sports betting will no longer be offered at the location.
While we are proud of what we have built alongside the Chicago Cubs, we are taking a more focused approach to where we invest in the state. The cost of operating in Illinois, including its high tax structure, makes it more difficult to justify continued investment in a standalone retail sportsbook.”
The partnership between the Cubs and DraftKings was announced in September of 2020, and the two entities worked for years to bring this project to fruition. Their efforts included lobbying the National Park Service to make sweeping changes to Wrigley Field, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. They obviously got the go-ahead while maintaining the tax breaks associated with the ballpark’s landmark status, so that’s still intact.
It’s a good thing the Cubs spent all that time and effort to add *checks notes* another huge bar in Wrigleyville. Yeah, that’s a novelty. The Cubs will maintain their share of food and beverage sales, and they won’t lose out on the gambling revenue since they were never involved directly on that front.
Still, you can throw this in with the Charles Lindbergh mural, dumpster cake, and trashed Ron Santo memorabilia. If I’m being completely honest, I’m really happy about this development because I hated the idea and wanted it to fail from the outset.
Now back to baseball.
Ed. note: As Jon Greenberg of The Athletic noted, the closure of DraftKings’ betting operation means the Cubs can directly connect the bar to Wrigley Field. He believes they should turn the space into the new home of the Cubs Hall of Fame, which currently exists out in the bleacher mezzanine, though he said they would not be able to sell beer there in that case. Maybe they can just create a separate area for the HOF.
