Illinois sports betting bill paves way for leagues to cash in

• D.C. is the only other place where this is the case, though its regulations still haven't been finalized.

The big picture: The official league data mandate, which Tennessee also included in its bill last month, is the most significant part of this bill, as it provides a potential template for leagues to make money.

• The leagues' initial attempts to fill their coffers through integrity fees (basically taking a cut of every bet) failed. Requiring operators to pay them for data, instead, seems like a logical alternative — and they just got two big wins.
• Sportsbooks and casinos don't like this, of course, because it forces them to pay for league data instead of letting them make that decision on their own. And thus, the saga continues.