{"id":804830,"date":"2026-05-18T10:13:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/804830\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T10:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:13:16","slug":"draftkings-closing-its-sportsbook-at-wrigley-field","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/804830\/","title":{"rendered":"DraftKings closing its sportsbook at Wrigley Field"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blaming increased Illinois wagering taxes, DraftKings is shutting down its two-year-old retail sportsbook at Wrigley Field, a high-profile but small part of its business.<\/p>\n

DraftKings, one of the leading sportsbooks in the state, will continue to operate online across Illinois, but the last day to place your bets in-person at the Friendly Confines<\/a> will be May 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cDraftKings has made the decision to discontinue onsite sportsbook operations at DraftKings Sportsbook at Wrigley Field following a review of our retail presence in Illinois,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cThe venue itself will remain open, but in-person sports betting will no longer be offered at the location.\u201d<\/p>\n

Launched in March 2024<\/a>, DraftKings at Wrigley Field is the only operating retail sportsbook in Illinois connected to a sports venue. FanDuel, which is associated with Fairmount Park near St. Louis and DraftKings, which remains partnered with the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, are the state\u2019s two highest-grossing sportsbooks, with most of the revenue from online wagering.<\/p>\n

DraftKings will remain open as a sports bar at Wrigley Field, but recent increases in city and state taxes played heavily into the company\u2019s decision to shut down the retail sportsbook operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile 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,\u201d the company said. \u201cThe cost of operating in Illinois, including its high tax structure, makes it more difficult to justify continued investment in a standalone retail sportsbook.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, the state increased the tax rate to as high as 40% for larger online and retail sports betting platforms, based on adjusted gross wagering revenue.<\/p>\n

Last year, Illinois also added a per-wager tax of 25 cents to each bet, going up to 50 cents per wager after a sportsbook fields more than 20 million bets in a year.<\/p>\n

For DraftKings, strike three for the Wrigley Field venue may have been a new 10.25% tax implemented by Chicago in January on adjusted gross sports wagering receipts from bets placed online or at a retail sportsbook within the city.<\/p>\n

The Cubs announced a partnership with DraftKings in 2020, and worked for several years through city, state and even the National Park Service to get approval to bring sports betting<\/a> to the historic ballpark. While the sportsbook itself is shutting down, the venue at Addison Street and Sheffield Avenue on the southeast corner of Wrigley Field will continue to operate under the DraftKings banner as a sports bar featuring giant video screens, ample seating and a menu replete with wings and mozzarella sticks.<\/p>\n

The Cubs remain committed to the Wrigley-adjacent venue as a DraftKings sports bar, with plans to connect it directly to the ballpark later this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cDraftKings bar and restaurant will remain open on both game and non-gamedays, offering an elevated sports bar environment for Wrigleyville visitors year-round,\u201d Cubs spokesperson Jennifer Martinez said in a statement. \u201cLater this season, we expect to create a seamless flow between the bar and the ballpark concourse, making the space a great gameday option for Cubs ticketholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

DraftKings will also continue to be the official sports betting and daily fantasy partner of the Cubs, Martinez said.<\/p>\n

The last day to place bets at the Wrigley location will be May 31, but customers with open bets can redeem them there through June 30, DraftKings said. Bets can also be redeemed by mail.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople walk outside the DraftKings Sportsbook before the Chicago Cubs host the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field on opening day, March 30, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

As part of the transition from sportsbook to sports bar, DraftKings will lay off a \u201csmall number of employees dedicated to the retail sportsbook operation\u201d at Wrigley Field, the company said.<\/p>\n

Despite the imminent closure of the Wrigley Field sportsbook, the Illinois sports betting industry has been growing since Rivers Casino in Des Plaines launched the state\u2019s first sportsbook<\/a> in March 2020, just days before it was temporarily shut down by the pandemic.<\/p>\n

There are currently 15 sportsbooks operating in Illinois, including a new retail-only venue that opened in March at Wind Creek Chicago Southland, one of the state\u2019s fastest-growing casinos. That total will go down to 14 in June when the Wrigley Field sportsbook shutters.<\/p>\n

Last year, Illinois ranked second behind New York among the 39 states with sports wagering, generating nearly $1.48 billion in revenue, according to the American Gaming Association.<\/p>\n

Online sports betting accounted for 98% of the revenue in Illinois.<\/p>\n

FanDuel was the top sportsbook in the state last year, generating more than $552 million in revenue, followed by DraftKings at $500 million, according to Illinois Gaming Board data.<\/p>\n

In-person sports betting at Wrigley Field accounted for $899,000 in adjusted gross receipts in 2025, a fractional amount of the total Illinois revenue for DraftKings, shedding further light on the decision to bet on burgers rather than ballgames at that location.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain committed to serving our mobile sportsbook customers,\u201d DraftKings said in its statement.<\/p>\n

rchannick@chicagotribune.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Blaming increased Illinois wagering taxes, DraftKings is shutting down its two-year-old retail sportsbook at Wrigley Field, a high-profile…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":804831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,1271,4070,1709,5386,1818,8930,140611,1272],"class_list":["post-804830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-draftkings","tag-fanduel","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-sports-betting","tag-sportsbook","tag-wrigley-field"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116595053327327291","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}