Illinois now has six licensed sports gambling operators ready to get things rolling in the state. After the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) approved three licenses in January, it would take about another month for three more to be accepted, but at least progress is being made. The newest recipients hoping to see their sportsbooks go live ahead of March Madness this month include Boyd Gaming and Penn National Gaming.

Penn National will now be able to put up sports wagers at its Hollywood Casino properties in Aurora and Joliet, and Boyd will add odds boards to its Par-A-Dice Hotel and Casino in Peoria, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Another venue, the Fairmount Park racetrack located in Collinsville, has yet to find out whether or not the IGB plans on approving its sports gambling license request.

Just like was the case when regulators issued licenses to Rivers Casino, Grand Victoria Casino and Argosy Casino Alton in January, there is still no specific date when sports wagers will start to legally be placed in the state. However, the race is on to try to get the market up and running before March Madness, the NCAA men’s basketball championship games, in order to capture one of the larger gambling events in the country.

It seems that getting things in place ahead of the games is expected, at least by one of the newly-licensed entities. The Argosy Casino Alton has been advertising the launch of its sportsbook ahead of March Madness, and Rivers Casino brass are “hopeful” everything will be ready by the start of the games on March 17.